Lucky Pat wins on his way to a chasing career

Declan Lavery’s move to take a few lengths out of his rivals on the home bend reaped dividends as he guided Lucky Pat home in Galway’s bumper at 8/1.

Dot Love’s six-year-old gelding was always in and around the lead, but asserted entering the straight and held a clear advantage at the furlong pole. Double Speak at 10/1 kept on well to close to within a length and three parts at the line. Another closer was Fill Your Hands (11/2) who was three parts of a length away in third.

Dot Love said: “We thought he would run a big race here on Monday [sixth in the bumper then], but everything went wrong. The false start upset him, but he actually ran well. I was a bit nervous the ground had changed, but we had great hopes for him.

“We’ll consult Martin (Carey, owner), but I’d say he’s too good a jumper to go hurdling. I’d say he might go chasing straight away, he’s a magnificent jumper.”

Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes