HRI Fact Book 2006 - Horse Racing Ireland

SEPTEMBER
06
The re-match between Ouija
Board and Alexander Goldrun,
who had fought out such
an exciting finish to the Nassau
Stakes at Goodwood in early August,
took place in the €1m Baileys Irish
Champion Stakes at Leopardstown
in early September. However, both
were eclipsed by Aidan O’Brien’s
Dylan Thomas who just got the
better of Ouija Board by a head under
a strong drive from Kieren Fallon
with Alexander Goldrun a never
dangerous third. A fourth victory in
this prestigious Group One contest for
O’Brien, it was a second consecutive
one for Fallon who partnered Oratorio
to score twelve months earlier. On a
terrific card, English raiders dominated
the finish of the Coolmore Fusaichi
Pegasus Matron Stakes with Red Evie
winning for the seventh time in a row
as she just held off the late challenge
of Peeress with Flashy Wings in third
and Nannina a close up fourth.
The following weekend at the
Curragh, the Aidan O’Brien stable
were fully expected to complete a
big Group One double as Yeats and
Holy Roman Emperor both started
strong odds-on favourites for the Irish
Field St Leger and the Laing O’Rourke
National Stakes respectively. However,
the 7/2-on favourite, Yeats was unable
to follow up his excellent victories
in the Goodwood Cup and the Ascot
Gold Cup earlier in the summer as
victory went to John Oxx’s Kastoria
who prevailed by half a length. Jockey
Mick Kinane stalked Yeats from early
in the straight before producing his
mount with a well timed challenge
to overhaul the favourite inside the
final two hundred yards to credit
her trainer with a third success in
the final Classic of the season after
Eurobird (1987) and Petite Ile two
years later. Twenty four hours later,
the eagerly awaited clash between
O’Brien’s Holy Roman Emperor and
Jim Bolger’s Teofilo in the Laing
O’Rourke National Stakes resulted in
a fine success for Teofilo who, perhaps
surprisingly, was crediting his trainer
with his first ever victory in this
prestigious contest. Teofilo proved a
length and a half too strong for his
main rival under Kevin Manning and
stretched his unbeaten run to four in
the process. While O’Brien and Fallon
had no luck in the two big events
that weekend, the stable enjoyed
four successes over the two days
with juveniles Brave Tin Soldier and
Gstaad showing plenty of promise
for the future.
The inaugural running of the
Shelbourne Hotel Goffs Million at the
Curragh in mid-September proved
to be a resounding success with a
crowd of over 10,000 attending the
Co Kildare venue. The theme of the
day was the ‘Celebration of the Horse’
and there were special presentations
made to twenty individuals who
played a starring role in the history
of racing down through the years. On
the flat the likes of Vincent O’Brien,
Aidan O’Brien and Dermot Weld were
honoured while on the National
Hunt side, the Dreaper and
the Carberry Families, Charlie
Swan and
Edward
O’Grady were just some of the
deserved recipients. On the track
itself, the Shelbourne Hotel Goffs
Million provided a very popular result
with victory for the Kevin Prendergast
trained Miss Beatrix, ridden by Declan
McDonogh and owned and bred by Bill
Durkan. The Shelbourne Hotel Goffs
Fillies Five Hundred Race resulted
in a controversial finish with Philip
Blockley’s Wait Watcher defeating the
favourite, Silk Blossom, by a length and
a quarter but the placings of the first
two were reversed after a protracted
Stewards’ Enquiry as the Acting
Stewards deemed that the original
winner had improved her finishing
position by causing interference to
the runner up on several occasions. In
other races, Sir Michael Stoute’s Red
Bloom won the Blandford Stakes for
the second year in succession while
the €100,000 Sportman’s Challenge
went to the Michael Halford trained
Newgate Lodge under a fine ride from
Johnny Murtagh.
The seven day Listowel Festival was
dogged by poor weather during
the week but managed to again
prove successful and jockey Ruby
Walsh was celebrating once more
after Bothar Na gave him a third
consecutive victory in the Guinness
Kerry National despite fears that the
testing conditions would be against
him. On the flat, Declan McDonogh
enjoyed a fantastic week riding seven
winners in total and at this stage he
had built up a clear cut lead in the
Jockeys’ Flat Championship. Having
proved slightly disappointing in the
Celebration Mile at Goodwood the
previous month, Aidan O’Brien’s
George Washington bounced back
to winning ways with a convincing
victory in the Queen Elizabeth II
Stakes at Ascot, the second part of
a big race double for the stable who
had earlier captured the Royal Lodge
Stakes with Admiralofthefleet, both
horses ridden by Michael Kinane.
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