Report: Leopardstown, Thursday, Jockey Club of Turkey Meld Stakes (Group 3) 1m1f, 3yo+

MARS failed to justify odds of 8-11 in the Group 3 Meld Stakes at Leopardstown after stablemate Sir John Hawkins could manage only third earlier in the evening.

The Epsom Derby sixth faced a select field, dropped in grade in a bid to rediscover winning ways following four fruitless trips to Britain this term.

			HORSE/SP	AGE	WGT	TRAINER/JOCKEY	OR	TS	RPR
«	1  5		Exogenesis (IRE) 11/8	2	9-3	G M Lyons	—	*	*
						Gary Carroll
«	2  6	½	Home School (IRE) 8/1	2	9-3 t	J S Bolger	94	*	*
						Kevin Manning
«	3  1	1¼	Sir John Hawkins (USA) 11/10F	2	9-3 b1	A P O’Brien	—	*	*
						Joseph O’Brien
«	4  3	2½	Simple Love (USA) 9/1	2	9-0	D K Weld	—	*	*
						Pat Smullen
«	DSQ  2		Gone Viral (IRE) 66/1	2	9-3	Ms Sheila Lavery	—	*	*
						Rory Cleary

5 ran TIME 1m 30.50s (slow by 4.80s) Total SP 112%
NON RUNNER: Expedition (IRE)
1st OWNER: Sean Jones BRED: Mrs Jacqueline Donnelly TRAINER: G M Lyons
2nd OWNER: Mrs J S Bolger
3rd OWNER: Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith & Mrs John Magnier
TOTE WIN £2.00 PL £1.02, £3.40; Ex £8.80; CSF £12.44

 

Leopardstown (IRE) Result, 25 Jul 2013. JOCKEY CLUB OF TURKEY MELD STAKES (GROUP 3)

• (3yo+) 1m1f Good
• £31,707.32, £9,268.29, £4,390.24, £1,463.41

			HORSE/SP	AGE	WGT	TRAINER/JOCKEY	OR	TS	RPR
«	1  2		Scintillula (IRE) 6/1	3	8-11 t	J S Bolger	112	*	*
						Kevin Manning
«	2  5	2¾	Mars (IRE) 8/11F	3	9-0 h	A P O’Brien	118	*	*
						Joseph O’Brien
«	3  3	3¼	Along Came Casey (IRE) 7/2	5	9-6	D K Weld	109	*	*
						Pat Smullen
«	4  6	6	Sweet Lightning 16/1	8	9-9 t	J P Murtagh	108	*	*
						Johnny Murtagh
«	5  1	2	Elleval (IRE) 16/1	3	9-0	David Marnane	107	*	*
						F M Berry
«	6  4	9	La Collina (IRE) 16/1	4	9-6	Kevin Prendergast	108	*	*
						Chris Hayes
«	7  7	32	Dane Street (USA) 40/1	4	9-6 p	Mrs John Harrington	95	*	*
						Ronan Whelan

7 ran TIME 1m 52.64s (slow by 1.64s) Total SP 114%
1st OWNER: Miss K Rausing & Mrs J S Bolger BRED: J S Bolger TRAINER: J S Bolger
2nd OWNER: Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith & Mrs John Magnier
3rd OWNER: Mrs C L Weld
TOTE WIN £6.20 PL £3.30, £1.10; Ex £15.80; CSF £10.83

Sent off a warmly-backed favourite, there were warning signs as Joseph O’Brien’s mount turned for home when he seemingly failed to respond when asked for more effort.

Scintillula always appeared to be holding Mars, the Irish Oaks fourth seemingly relishing the battle and the pair were never troubled by the five other runners as she went on to land the €39,000 prize for jockey Kevin Manning and trainer Jim Bolger by two and three-quarter lengths.

Bolger was full of praise for his filly and said: “She’s tough. She’s come right now and is hardy. In the Spring she wasn’t but we got a foundation into her and she’s benefitting from it now.

“The ground turning soft in the straight was a concern but I was happy with the way she picked up on it. We’ll have a look at the Yorkshire Oaks but the Give Thanks Stakes at Cork is also possible.”

Joseph O’Brien felt Mars could have won but conditions underfoot halted his winning run. He said: “He hated the ground. I came upsides Kevin Manning to go and win my race in the straight but as soon as he hit the soft ground he couldn’t handle it at all. When he comes back on good ground you’ll see the horse we think he is.”

Korean Racing Authority Tyros Stakes (Group 3) 7f, 2yo

THE highly-touted Aidan O’Brien-trained Sir John Hawkins could only manage third behind Exogenesis when sent off the 11-10 favourite in the Group 3 Tyros Stakes.

There was little change to the order throughout the race with Home School leading the way under Kevin Manning, followed by the Ger Lyons-trained Exogenesis and Sir John Hawkins, with Simple Love and Gone Viral at the rear.

A furlong from home things were looking good for Sir John Hawkins and Joseph O’Brien but the colt found little when asked for his effort and it was left to 11-8 second favourite Exogenesis under Gary Carroll to prevent 8-1 shot Home School from making all.

Half a length separated them at the line.

Lyons said of the winner: “We were offered very good money after his last win and I said to the owner if we’re going where we need to be going we need to be brave with some of these horses and he’s worth being brave with.

“I wouldn’t run him over any shorter than this. He’s in the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster. We’re in no rush with him, the races will find themselves. He’s a very straightforward horse. When they’re this good a clown could place them!” 

fonte: RacingPost