18+ | Commercial Content | T&Cs apply | Wagering and T&Cs apply | Play Responsibly | Advertising Disclosure

Roam gets off the mark

Room To Roam and Colin Keane (near) beats Cape Of EaglesRoom To Roam and Colin Keane (near) beats Cape Of Eagles
© Photo Healy Racing

Room To Roam signed off for the year with a hard fought victory in the opener at Dundalk this evening.

The 11/4 favourite just got the verdict by a short-head after fighting out the finish with Cape Of Eagles in the seven-furlong maiden.

The winner hadn’t been beaten far in any of his previous four outings and was making his first start since finishing fourth in a Galway nursery in late July.

“We were in the nursery tomorrow but I made the call to come here for the median auction race,” said Lyons.

“He wants every yard of a mile and that’s definitely a furlong too shy for him. We put the blinkers on to sharpen him up because of the trip and it’s after working out. Nine times out of ten it doesn’t work for us.

“We’ll put him away for the year. He wants a trip next year and is a mile-and-a-quarter horse.

“He’s not ground dependent and is a lovely honest horse. The Fast Company’s are like that - good honest horses.

“He had a good long break. He’s been there ready to run for ages but I gave other horses priority. I thought he’d get his turn and took a gamble on this.”

About Gary Carson
Gary started out as a trainee/assistant journalist with the Sporting Life newspaper and has worked in the racing industry for over 25 years. He has been with the Press Association since 2013 and won the Irish Field Nap Table in 2016. He enjoys working with horses and trained his own horse, Mamaslittlestar, to win a point-to-point in 2019.