Rachael Blackmore followed up her first flat winner of the season with her biggest career success on the level, giving Oriental Eagle (18/1) a shock win for trainer Emmet Mullins in the Listed Martin Molony Stakes at Limerick.
Weigh-room colleagues Ronan Whelan and Robbie Colgan made the trip back up the M8 with smiles on their faces face after recording doubles, while at Gowran Park, trainer Johnny Murtagh and jockey Gary Carroll also scored twice.
Meanwhile, Aidan O’Brien registered a domestic cross-card double to go with his 72nd Royal Ascot victory.
Limerick
A dual group winner in Germany, Oriental Eagle produced his best performance since joining the Emmet Mullins string when garnering the Listed Martin Molony Stakes thanks to a brilliant bit of steering by Blackmore.
Just three days after misfiring at Leopardstown the five-year-old sat in second behind pacesetter Bold Approach.
Blackmore edged her mount forward to take over turning into the straight but a previously-seen tendency to hang left made her task difficult.
The Killenaule pilot showed all her horsemanship to keep Oriental Eagle on the largely straight and narrow and he flew clear, with Pondus closing late to within a length, having not had a clear passage.
“It’s great to get an opportunity like this and fair play to Emmet” said Blackmore. “He had this horse very well-tuned up for today.
“The plan was to sit last and completely switch him off but he jumped very well and we got a lovely lead going around and apart from hanging up the straight, he did it well.
“It’s just fantastic to get an opportunity like this and a big thanks to Emmet for putting me up today.”
Blackmore will be back in her natural environment when the NH season resumes at this venue next Monday.
“Bring on the jumps now! I’ve been down at Henry’s quite a bit. He has the yard in fantastic shape and really looking forward to getting some of them going again and seeing where we’re at.”
Whelan provided his own navigational masterclass to take the It’s Good To Be Back At Limerick Handicap on Global Pass (9/2). Richard O’Brien’s charge was switched to the rail at the two-furlong marker and then squeezed up the inside of Kinch, prevailing quite comfortably in the end.
Ado McGuinness and his right-hand man Stephen Thorne have been recruiting astutely in recent years and Laugh A Minute (11/2) is another very smart purchase. Runner-up in a Group 3 when with Roger Varian just last year, the five-year-old was a ready winner of the Limerick Race to get Whelan off the mark.
Half Nutz (4/1) was a length-victor of the Well Done To All Frontline Staff Handicap for Colgan and Sheila Lavery, and the Meath rider was very strong in propelling Shanroe (11/1) to the front in the Patrickswell Maiden for older horses for Karl Thornton.
Aidan O’Brien and Wayne Lordan combined to score in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden for three-year-old fillies
Soaring Monarch (50/1) was the day’s biggest-priced winner but there was nothing flukey about his two-and-a-quarter-length defeat of favourite Stalingrad in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden for three-year-old colts and geldings, Kevin Manning grabbing the initiative two furlongs out on the Peter Fahey-trained Free Eagle gelding.
Gowran Park
The opening MansionBet’s Beaten by a Head Handicap was an unfortunately appropriate title for Murtagh and especially jockey Nikita Kane, who was denied her first winner as Beauchamp Bagenal (12/1) refused to yield to Trueba.
It was, however, a race that trainer Barry Fitzgerald and jockey Luke McAteer will remember as it provided them with their first triumphs of the season. Beauchamp Bagenal was providing Fitzgerald with a third winner from just five runners on the flat this calendar year and the Dundalk maiden winner of last January was very tough to keep Trueba and Kane at bay.
Consolation came quickly for Murtagh as So Suave (13/2) was delivered late by Danny Sheehy to swoop by Feminista and land the MansionBet Proud To Support Racing Handicap.
Owned and bred by Ballylinch Stud, the son of Make Believe was a bit keen early on but Sheehy took him back into the middle of the pack and he had more than enough energy in reserve to claim the honours.
Murtagh made it four for the week in Division 1 of the Mansion Bet’s Paid as a Winner Handicap, where Mirann (9/1) marked his first run for the yard with a cheeky half-length win.
The former French-trained Aga Khan-owned son of Motivator has been gelded since being purchased at the end of last year and looks a very exciting prospect judging by the manner in which he accounted for this opposition.
Carroll sealed his double in the second division and certainly earned it, thrusting the Mick Mulvany-prepped Ideal Pal a short head in front in the shadow of the post for Mick Mulvany, after a protracted duel with On the Balcony.
It was easier for Carroll as he teamed up with Joe Murphy and first-timer Collaborating (12/1) to score in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden for three-year-old colts and geldings.
Just 20 minutes after Russian Emperor rattled home to score in the Hampton Court Stakes at Royal Ascot, Aidan O’Brien unveiled debutant Laburnum (2/1) for less heart-stopping victory in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden for three-year-old fillies.
Bred in the purple, the daughter of Galileo and a Danehill mare only had to be pushed out by Seamie Heffernan to overtake the odds-on favourite, Thunder Kiss.
Maiden hurdle winner Takes Itall (15/8) made his first appearance on the flat in two years a triumphant one in effortless fashion in Division 1 of the It’s Not Rocket Science MansionBet Maiden for Joseph O’Brien and Shane Crosse, while in-form pilot Billy Lee combined with Henry de Bromhead to land the second division on Hurricane Cliff (10/3).
