COLIN Keane bagged a double at Dundalk last Wednesday as the champion jockey continued to boot in the winners on the all-weather. He wasted no time getting on the scoresheet when teaming up with boss Ger Lyons in the opener aboard Hale Bopp.

The Belardo gelding was dropping into claiming company for the first time in the mile contest and justified 15/8 favouritism. He was delivered to lead over a furlong out and stayed on well to record a length success over Rocky Dreams.

Assistant Shane Lyons said afterwards:- “He was entitled to do that. It’s the last claimer on the programme, he’s a genuine 84 horse and he’s served us well. I’d presume he will be claimed and wish the new party the best of luck. He’s a very genuine horse that loves it around here and loves good ground during the summer.”

Important win

The winner was claimed for €15,000 by owner Paul Sweeney to be trained by Dick Donohoe. Keane doubled up later on the card when 7/2 shot Ebtsama gained an important win in the six-furlong maiden. The Ado McGuinness-trained filly disputed from a furlong-and-a-half out with Aces Wild and just prevailed at the line by a short-head from that rival.

“She’s well bred and Paul Cashman bought her to breed from,” said McGuinness. “He sent her to me to see if we could get a bracket with her. I’ve got that bracket now so I’d say she’ll probably be retired now because she’s going for breeding in the spring. Colin was class on her and that’s why he’s champion jockey.”

Second division

John McConnell was on the wrong side of that photo finish but gained compensation in the finale when St Cianans Fire scored under Conor Hoban. The Elzaam gelding tracked Je T’ai Porte before claiming that rival a furlong from home and recording a hard-fought half-length win at odds of 11/4 in the second division of the 10-furlong handicap.

“That makes up for being beaten a short-head in the maiden,” said McConnell. “I was humming and hawing about whether to run him at all from his draw (in 12). I rang Conor Hoban this morning and he talked me into it. He said ‘I know what I’m doing’ and he carried out the plan very well. In fairness to Simon (Condron) he was going to let me decide either way what to do. He’s improving all the time and hopefully can keep going.”

Late run

Ray Cody was pleasantly surprised by the win of Alphonse Le Grande on his first start for the yard in the first division. Ronan Whelan held the 7/1 shot up in the early stages before coming with a late run to get up and beat Wonder Spirit by a neck.

“To be honest I didn’t know what to expect. He had 17 runs in England and one win, he has ability but maybe his first run was the time to catch him,” said Cody. “I told Ronan to drop him in, get him settled, and just go from there. The owners (Bet Small Win Big Syndicate) said they’d like to have a few pounds on but I told them not to and that I wouldn’t have a penny on him today. I didn’t think he’d even be fit enough. The race fell into his lap a bit, they went hard early on and that maybe suits him.”

Birch impresses in maiden

THE most impressive winner on the card was the John Murphy-trained White Birch, who powered clear late on to record a wide-margin win in the Irish Stallions Farms EBF Maiden.

Robbie Colgan sent the Ulysses gelding to the lead two furlongs from home and the 7/2 shot opened up in the closing stages to post a six-and-a-half length win.

“I thought after running over a stiff mile on heavy ground (first time) things might happen a bit sharp on this surface over seven but he jumped really well and seems to have a real good cruising speed,” said Colgan.

“He galloped out really well and probably would have gone around again. I was delighted with the way it went. It was just a piece of work.”

Larrabee scores under Woods

SORCHA Woods recorded back-to-back wins on Linus Larabee when Eddie Lynam’s gelding came late to land the spoils in the second division of the seven-furlong handicap. The 4/1 favourite came from the rear and got up in the closing stages to record a head victory over Scarlet Dancer. Lynam said of the winning rider:“She’s getting a great tune out of him. She’s got the key to him, she’s riding him cold. I’m delighted for her. She comes in three mornings a week and whether she’s getting rides or not she never moans. When she gets a chance she’s taken it.”

The first division of the race saw another young 7lb claimer shine as Neve Bennett gave Sondheim a well-judged front-running ride. Craig O’Neill’s charge soon got to the lead and always looked to be holding his rivals down the straight as he recorded a length-and-a-quarter win over Aristovic.

“We were happy enough coming here that he was training well but I was a bit worried that he had been off for over 100 days, obviously it didn’t matter to him thankfully,” said O’Neill. “Neve gave him a great ride, she was nice and positive on him and that’s what he likes. She’s improving all the time.”

Well-timed

Alan Persse’s 7lb claim also proved valuable as he delivered Happenstance with a well-timed run to land the seven-furlong nursery for Pat Flynn. The 17/2 shot ran on to lead inside the final furlong to record a half-length win over Doctor Grace. Persse said: “Since he came to the all-weather he’s been improving. He ran well the last day but the step up in trip today really helped him. He’s still a big baby, even when he quickened up he still had a look. There is plenty of improvement in him.”