Carroll completes quick opening race double at Listowel

In an almost identical ride to that which saw him take the opening contest, Garry Carroll completed a quick double when making most of the running aboard Warrior Brave to comfortably land the Pat Smullen Handicap at Listowel.

The Ross O'Sullivan trained winner was well supported in the market, returning at 9/2 having been as big as 33/1 overnight.

Rated as high as 100 at one stage of his career, the five-year-old had dropped to a mark of 81 on this, his second run since returning from a winter in Bahrain.

Similar to the first, Carroll had his mount away smartly, grabbing the rail from his favourable draw. Kicking from the front early in the straight, the combination soon had their rivals in trouble. Coumshingaun was sent off favourite but lost her chance when breaking slowly. To her credit, once regaining momentum, the Kevin Coleman trained filly stayed on well to eventually finish second.

Ross O'Sullivan said: "his owner Eleanora Kennedy came in from New York to see this horse run but he is a horse who had been driving us mad and frustrating us. We've got trips to Royal Ascot and Bahrain last winter with him so he has been a great fun horse although we were probably ceding to that.

"At Naas the last day Dylan Browne McMonagle rode him and suggested he should run on a bend, as a straight track doesn't suit. He said a bend would trick him and keep his mind occupied. He jumped and travelled really well today and loved it in front.

"We'll look for another race like this and we have a very very happy owner so I'm delighted. Eleanora had a winner for us with Cush at Gowran in the past, it's her first time in Listowel and this is great."

Owner Kennedy added "I live in Ireland five months of the year and the last two years have become involved in horses. I flew in last week and brought the weather!"

Kennedy's late husband Michael Kennedy, an American criminal defence attorney, represented Ivana Trump in her divorce with Donald Trump.

Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes