Brendan Brackan gives Keane his biggest win Brendan Brackan’s new handicap mark of 117 provoked plenty of debate after he won the Topaz Mile at the Galway Festival, but he lived up to his rating when winning the Group 3 Solonaway Stakes over a mile at the Curragh. Colin Keane, who was successful on Brendan Brackan at Galway, was retained on board the four-year-old, however he was unable to avail of his claim in this Pattern company. The 9/2 chance, trained by Ger Lyons, raced handy behind front-running Ansgar. Rory Cleary, at the head of affairs, tried to put his rivals to the sword with a quarter of a mile to go as he asked Sabrina Harty’s gelding to go and win the race. It became evident though that Brendan Bracken was starting to stay on powerfully under Keane and the pair cut into the lead before getting on terms with 200 yards to race. From there they forged on for a two-length decision. Ansgar came in second at 10/1 while Darwin, the red-hot 4/7 favourite, could find no more in the final furlong and didn’t get on terms as he finished third for Aidan and Joseph O’Brien. This was a first Group race success for jockey Colin Keane who said: “That’s brilliant! It all went to plan. Going with what the handicapper gave us we had the best horse in the ratings. “He grinds them out and stays on well. Thanks to Brendan (Brackan) he got me a new car after the Galway win. He’s responsible for my two biggest wins. “I rode over 100 pony winners. I was either going to go to England or go to Ger (Lyons). I haven’t looked back since going to him.” Trainer Ger Lyons added: “Colin came to me in January. He’s a great lad and is really hard-working. We trained Brendan for the festival race [at Galway]. Going up to that sort of rating without winning a stakes races was unbelievable. I’d say we’ll put him away and go to Dubai.” Additional reporting by Alan Magee
