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- Make A Challenge doubles up at the Galway Festival
Michael Graham
Make A Challenge doubles up at the Galway Festival
Make A Challenge obliges under Joey Sheridan
© Photo Healy Racing
Make A Challenge made it a Galway Festival double when taking the seven furlong handicap under Joey Sheridan.
The four-year-old gelding travelled ominously well as he moved into a threatening position in the final quarter of a mile.
Sheridan gave him a squeeze rounding the home bend and the pair closed on a ridden War Hero over a furlong out.
Make A Challenge did just that and then took over inside the final furlong. He ran on well to assert in the closing stages by two and a half lengths at 4/1 for trainer Denis Hogan.
War Hero was vanquished in second at 9/2. Hogan also supplied the third home in Cyrus Dallin (14/1). Indeed Hogan also had the fourth home - Caesar's Comet
Denis Hogan said: "He is a real improver and it was a hard one to take off Joe Doyle (Tuesday's winning jockey) but he understood and I told him he could ride Caesar's Comet and he finished fourth and wasn't out of it.
"It is great for everyone and my parents still own a leg of him and Joey's claim (7lb) was a massive help. Joey came in riding out for me one day and I saw him riding work and you'd know he was talented and he is well able to ride.
"It was unfortunate we lost Kerosin yesterday and I had a dead arm yesterday but rode out this morning and am grand now. It's been an up and down week and we've had some good results and some disappointments and losing the horse was a killer."
Regarding his own future as a trainer/jockey he said: "I now have 70 horses and it takes me half an hour when I get home at night just to organise the next day so riding is getting very hard to go. I don't think I'll be riding for too long more and will be concentrating on training.
"I'm really enjoying training the flat horses as it is just that bit easier to train a flat one. We train any horse if they're good enough and we don't mind doing either."
Make A Challenge also won by a nose over course and distance on Tuesday with Joe Doyle in the plate.
Additional reporting by Tom Weekes