Friday

THE Dingle Racing Festival has long been regarded as the Cheltenham of pony racing and the 2023 renewal was certainly no exception.

Full marks to Colm Sayers and his long-standing committee for putting on another tremendous show and they were rewarded with a record attendance.

Rosslare jockey Adam Grant was the toast of the opening night with a sparkling treble on Chloe’s Sam, Bipolar Blondie and Little Man, the first pair trained by Shane Crabbe.

Chloe’s Sam is certainly different class over 10 furlongs and powered clear up the straight to see off Kinnegar Boy and Sam Coen.

Bipolar Blondie is very much a course specialist and recorded another victory around Ballintaggart to deny the debutante Volar Alto Amigo in an exciting finish to the one mile and six-furlong contest.

Adam’s treble came courtesy of Little Man, owned by Marcel McGhee from Letterkenny, in the 15hh contest. This one had caught the eye last time up north and proved too strong for the brave Chancy Money inside the last one 100 yards.

Best ponies

Five Stone Of Lead will go down in history as one of the best ponies ever to grace the Dingle turf and she struck again in the one-mile 14.2hh race.

Kian McNally struck down the outside a furlong out and quickly settled the issue with Grace O’Malley in second spot for Rian Lane. Kian went on to complete a quick double when Maverick, owned by the Finnerty family from Roscommon, repeated last year’s course victory in the second division of the mile race.

The Irish Field National Champion Jockey Dylan O’Connor has made this track his own in recent years and he gave Caro Quintero a dashing drive to win the opening 12-furlong contest in ultra-impressive fashion. The winner is owned by Maurice Ahern.

Julian Pietropaolo gained his first Festival victory when Here We Go Again put up a fine staying performance to win the two-mile Derby trial.

Aidan Melia’s winner proved too strong for longtime leader King Of The Hill on the long climb to the finish.

Scottish jockey Shay Farmer, who lives in Hawick, will have fond memories of his trip to Dingle after Indian Lady put up a stellar performance to win the first division of the mile race for owner Les Chandler.

The always prominent Indian Lady quickened up impressively to see off fellow debutante No Pain No Gain by two lengths at the line.

14.2HH (1M): 1, M. Moloney’s FIVE STONE OF LEAD (Kian McNally); 2, T. Beegan’s GRACE O’ MALLEY (Rian Lane); 3, J. Collins’s SHELLY BABY (Dylan O’Connor).

15HH (1M): 1, M. Magee’s LITTLE MAN (Adam Grant); 2, D. Burns’s CHANCY MONEY (Nicola Burns); 3, P. O’Sullivan’s CALI CARTEL (Sam Coen).

Open Horse Race Div 1 (1M): 1, Les Chandler’s INDIAN LADY (Shay Farmer); 2, K. Flannery’s NO PAIN NO GAIN (John Mulvihill); 3, Team Browne’s LET’S TRY AGAIN (Sam Coen).

Open Horse Race Div 2 (1M): 1, Finnerty Family’s MAVERICK (Kian McNally); 2, S. Crabbe’s SHE’S GOT IT (Adam Grant); 3, Team Mac’s KINEGAR MAN (Nicola Burns).

Open Horse Race (10F): 1, S. Crabbe’s CHLOE’S SAM (Adam Grant); 2, Team Mac’s KINEGAR BOY (Sam Coen); 3, I. Worrell/S. Crabbe’s VERSTAPPEN (Kian McNally).

Open Horse Race (12F): 1, M. Ahern’s CARO QUINTERO (Dylan O’Connor); 2, A. Melia’s The Tinder Swindler (Julian Pietropaolo); 3, Deelview Racing’s BUBBA WATSON (Darragh O’Sullivan).

Open Horse Race (14F): 1, S. Crabbe’s BIPOLAR BLONDIE (Adam Grant); 2, J. Daly’s VOLAR ALTO AMIGO (Dylan O’Connor); 3, Not Sure Syndicate’s THE QUIET MAN (Sam Coen).

Derby Trial (2M): 1, A. Melia’s HERE WE GO AGAIN (Julian Pietropaolo); 2, L. Cregg’s KING OF THE HILL (Patrick McGettigan); 3, K. & R. Racing’s AN BATON ROUGE (Adam Grant).