A STELLAR evening for Jessica Harrington yielded a treble here which offered compelling evidence that the trainer’s string look poised for a strong second half of the season.

The opening leg of the trainer’s treble came when Dairerin notched up his first success since arriving in Ireland by coming out the right side of a terrific finish to the 50-80 rated seven-furlong handicap.

This three-year-old arrived in Ireland with a rating of 93 but in six runs had slipped down to a mark of 77, and he duly rewarded those that ensured he was sent off a well-backed 3/1 favourite.

Niall McCullagh’s mount was seventh but not that far off the leaders approaching the last furlong and when he found his best stride inside the distance, he closed in relentlessly and landed in front on the line to edge out Earls.

Fourth-placed Band Width looked especially unlucky after getting no run whatsoever from the turn-in.

“We were very happy with his run in Naas (fourth to Sablonne) and I said to Ciaran (O’Toole, who is involved in the victorious Sniper Alley Syndicate) to step him up a furlong.

“Ciaran is my agent for the last 30 years,” declared McCullagh. “He got away with the ground today but he’ll be a better horse with more juice in the ground.”

Across the card

It was then the turn of the Tom Madden-ridden Himalayan Beauty took the 50-80 rated fillies’ handicap over a mile to make it an across-the-card treble on the night for the trainer.

Just under a year after her only previous success, the Sebastian Curran-owned four-year-old took charge of this race well over a furlong from home when moving on from the flagging front-runner, New York Angel.

The victorious 15/2 chance soon held a commanding advantage and she finished with six lengths to spare over Miss Cunning.

“She’s been a bit disappointing this season but the handicapper gave her a chance, everything went to plan and she loved that ground,” declared Madden.

After his father kicked off the treble, Scott McCullagh completed it on Aurora Princess in the race for horses rated 90 or less over a mile.

Now a five-time winner and a dual course-and-distance scorer, the Yasushi Kubota-owned four-year-old showed a fine attitude when it mattered.

Her steady challenge enabled her to get the better of the front-running Monzoon inside the distance and the 6/1 shot went on to carry the day by three-parts of a length.

ANOTHER trainer to enjoy a splendid evening was Joseph O’Brien who made it four winners at both meetings as he recorded a double here to go with his Leopardstown brace.

The trainer’s opening winner of the evening at this fixture came with Sir Antonino in the Tadhg O’Connor Ltd Maiden over a mile.

The 6/4 favourite hadn’t been at his best in two runs this term, but his efforts last autumn which yielded runner-up efforts in Curragh and Leopardstown maidens set him apart from these rivals and he had first-time blinkers to aid his cause.

In the colours of Spanish soccer player Alvaro Odriozola Arzallus, this son of Galileo made most of the running for Shane Crosse and fought on well over the last quarter of a mile to edge out Roman Bull by a neck.

“He just ran a bit below par this year but Joseph put the blinkers on him to wake him up a shade. He had to do it the hard way there but he was tough and hopefully this will do his confidence plenty of good,” reflected the rider.

The trainer also picked up the extended mile-and-a-half maiden but had to await the verdict of the judge as stablemates Magellan Strait and Nusret went by the line in unison.

Initial impressions were that Nusret might just have done enough but on the line he was nailed by the Mikey Sheehy-ridden Magellan Strait whose strong last-furlong charge saw him pull off a 28/1 upset.

The Ray Grehan-owned son of Australia was taking a significant step forward from his debut sixth behind Shajak at Tipperary in May.

RONAN McNally added to a victory at Roscommon on Monday with All Class in the 50-80 rated extended mile-and-a-half handicap.

A second winner for apprentice Danny Gilligan, the easy-to-back 12/1 chance looked to have victory in safe keeping entering the final furlong but was all out at the line to hold off the persistent S’all Good Man by a nose.

“Danny was riding last year with Tubs (McNally’s son) at the pony racing and is an exceptional talent. His 10lb claim is like gold,” remarked the trainer.

“We wanted to get a nice run into her today to build confidence and everything else was a bonus. We’ll give her a few weeks now.”

The evening began with a winner for Andy Slattery senior and junior as Flame Of Eire (11/2) won the seven-furlong Pharmacy Store Ireland Handicap.

This lightly raced daughter of Mehmas showed promise on her handicap debut at Tipperary the previous week and built on that to win this 47-70 rated three-year-old handicap in good style.

The 59-rated Mary Harney-owned runner was always well placed and took charge of this race over a furlong from home en route to a straightforward three-quarter-length success over the staying-on Clarinbridge.

The winner may now be kept under wraps until the Galway Festival.