Flame Of Eire a welcome winner for Slattery father and son team

Following a couple of near misses earlier in the week, trainer Andrew Slattery and his son of the same name struck with Flame Of Eire in the Arthur Guinness Handicap at Galway.

Always front rank from the outset, jockey Andrew Slattery had Flame Of Eire in the perfect position just off the pace.

Making headway to chase leader Brown Eagle off the home bend, he arrived there plenty soon enough but gathered in the Billy Lee ridden gelding before fending off the late challenge of Molly's Gamble

A winner over 7f at Limerick last time, the daughter of Mehmas was stepping back up in trip here. She had no problems with the extra distance, staying on strongly to the line.

Andrew Slattery Snr said; "this was the plan and I had a few nice horses coming here this week and thought this was my best chance.

"She won in Limerick on good to firm ground but when the rain came I didn't know how she'd handle it. We thought she'd handle it when she ran in Tipperary previously but ran badly for some reason, having broken badly.

"She is a nice filly and is improving. Not everything went right early on and was keen but I think she'll stay 1m4f eventually and goes on any ground. I think she will be a better four year old as she is still raw."

Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes