Quick double for Weld & Hayes as Shelir scores on debut

After taking the first divide of the Arkle Bar Maiden with Sherkali Dermot Weld, Chris Hayes and the Aga Khan quickly doubled-up in the second split with newcomer Shelir

Sent off a 9/2 chance, the son of Dark Angel was settled behind the leaders in sixth, and took closer order on the outer to challenge from the two furlong pole.

He was ridden and had a good battle with Piano Solo inside the final furlong, with just a short head separating them at the line.

Piano Solo was returned at 8/1 (33s in early shows) under Billy Lee for Ken Condon, while the Ger Lyons trained Inflection Point (3/1) was another two and a quarter lengths back in third.

Tracker Point, who was as big as 6/1 in early shows, was sent off the 7/4 favourite under Kevin Manning for Jim Bolger, and he eventually finished fourth.

Weld said afterwards: "He's a nice colt and has been working well at home. The false start just lit him up a bit more than I would have liked, and he was a little bit keener than Chris wanted in the early part of the race so he'll learn a lot from that.

"We'll bring him back a furlong for the Tetrarch (Curragh May 6th). He has a lot of pace.

"The timing of today's race suited going forward. It was a mile and we took a chance and got away with it. I think he’ll be a better horse over seven furlongs."

The race went off nearly ten minutes behind schedule due to a false start caused by a stalls malfunction (stall 15 didn't open at the same time as the others).

STEWARDS REPORTS

The Stewards fined Ms. Sheila Lavery, trainer, E350 for lodging a passport in respect of Tempestas in which the vaccinations did not conform with the provisions of Rule 91. The Stewards ordered the withdrawal of Tempestas in accordance with the provisions of Rule 90.

D.P. McDonogh, rider of Masque Of Anarchy trained by A. Oliver, reported to the Clerk of Scales that his mount struggled on the ground.

The Stewards received a report from Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board Starter, Mr. J.R. Banahan, that Stall 15 was very slow to open in this race which meant he called a false start. He stated that the stalls worked correctly both prior to the false start and when checked again prior to the restart. Having considered the Starter's report the Stewards attributed the incident to mechanical malfunction and took no further action.

Additional reporting by Alan Magee