Buckley bags sixth winner in six weeks

Kieren Buckley today partnered his sixth winner in as many weeks since relocating to Ireland recently, steering Benny The Duke (1/1f) to win Ballinrobe's opening Adare Manor Opportunity Maiden Hurdle for trainer Ray Cody.

Formerly based with trainer Nigel Hawke in Devon and now with Gavin Cromwell, Buckley was seen to good affect on Benny The Duke, which overcame previous jumping difficulties to win under a nicely timed ride.

Trainer Cody later said “Garry Cribbin (agent) recommended Kieren to me and he came down to school him yesterday. He gave him a lovely ride and did exactly what I told him to do."

He added “it looked a lovely opportunity, he's a big gangly horse and it probably wouldn't be his track but I thought it was a winnable race.

"It's brilliant that he's got off the mark and he's not too bad. He's a horse that's going to stay a lot further. He'll get three miles down the line and today (2m2f) would have been as short as he wants.

"When he gets in tight he can be a little bit sloppy, but overall his jumping is plenty good enough and will get better with experience.”

All six of Buckley's recent winners have been for different trainers.

Quotes from Mark Nunan