Taaffes put experience to good use

Hansard benefitted from previous experiences when making all to win Ballinrobe's DPD Depot 33 Ballinrobe INH Bumper today, providing jockey Pat Taaffe with a winner on his second ride at the Mayo venue.

The flat bred son of The Gurkha was the most experienced runner of today's 12 with three previous runs, and in the race didn't see another rival, beating Mrs Grimley by three and three parts of a length.

Winning trainer Charles O'Brien wasn't present and Taaffe later revealed “my dad (Tom) gave me a bit of advice on how to ride the track. I wasn’t going to have a look behind in the straight as I’ve been told often enough not to do that!"

He added “I spoke to Mr O’Brien on the way here and we decided to do one or two things differently today. He enjoyed the ground and had that bit of experience which we were keen to use. He stayed galloping all the way to the line.”

Quotes from Mark Nunan