McConnell unleashes Clonard Street

Following on from Prince Rudi at 20/1 in the second race, Clonard Street was another skinner for the bookies at 22/1 in the six runner extended mile maiden for two-year-olds at Galway.

John McConnell’s newcomer ran fourth and betrayed signs of greenness when jumping the path. However, Gary Carroll had plenty of horse under him and once he had extricated his mount out from alongside Spryt he readily hunted down and passed Prologue under 150 yards out to win by half a length from that 11/4 shot.

Spryt, the uneasy 13/8 favourite from 8/11 in the morning, was four and a quarter lengths further back in third. Prologue and Hail The Hero took each other on for the lead throughout.

“If this fella hadn’t run well I’d have been in trouble as he was beating all my other two-year-olds. He was working well with older horses. He never wins his gallop by far and Gary said he was pulling up in front. He was green and also jumped the road,” John McConnell said.

“I’d say it takes a good horse to win here first time out. He won in spite of the ground, he wants better ground. I’m hoping he’ll be running in other colours next time, but that I’ll get to keep him. Id David Redvers asked me to keep him I’d be more than delighted!

“I think he’s a good horse and if he was with a more prominent trainer they would be saying how promising he was. This fellow is more of a grinder than Orgilgo Bay. They are the types I prefer.”

Selskar Abbey and Brown Bee were both taken out due to the change in going.

Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes