Lyons & Keane collect in another Champions Festival opener

Champion jockey Colin Keane and trainer Ger Lyons combined to win both opening races of Champions Festival this weekend, as My Mate Alfie (12/1) landed today's opening Irish Stallion Farms EBF Bold Lad Sprint at the Curragh.

The pair had bagged yesterday's curtain-raiser Ingabelle Stakes at Leopardstown with Chantez and today, three-year-old My Mate Alfie defied top weight and a rating of 107 when beating 24 rivals.

Racing behind the leaders, the Dark Angel-sired winner went clear inside the final furlong and stayed on well to defeat Torivega by 1.25 lengths.

Trainer Lyons reported “My Mate Alfie is a lovely horse but is invisible at home and so much so, that he caught me out a couple of times forgetting to put blinkers on him. He works to the button without blinkers but on the track he just won't do it. He's one of those fantastic horses.

“He holds an entry in the Ayr Gold Cup, I'm not saying we won't do it as it's a race I want to win, but we've been training this lad with the future in mind. I've kept saying to Austin (Whelan, owner) that we'd travel next year and to let me teach him how to sprint.

“Ten stone is a lot for a three-year-old and he's done it well; he's just a good horse and keeps turning up. We've trained him with next year in mind and he hasn't let us down. Whether he's a Group 1 sprinter, it's a huge jump from Group 3, but he's definitely going to mature into a better horse.”

Quotes from Gary Carson