Danse Away and Barry O'Neill lead over the last© Photo Healy Racing
Danse Away made it two wins in the space of just 48 hours when taking the CIT Cream Of The Crop (QR) Handicap Hurdle at Cork.
The point-to-point winner was fitted with cheek-pieces for the first time when opening his account under rules in style at Clonmel on Tuesday but had to work a lot harder to follow up here under a mandatory 6lb penalty.
The Tom Nagle-trained gelding was prominent throughout and had to be driven out by Barry O’Neill to justify 5/4 favouritism. Time And Times was well-backed into 7/2 and didn’t go down without a fight just a length and a half away in second, with Rebel Ace a further three and three quarter lengths back in third.
This was the first leg of a Connolly’s Red Mills-sponsored 11-race series for amateur riders throughout Europe, with future races to be run in the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Belgium, England and France.
Nagle said, "He has had good point to point form and got it right over hurdles. He'll turn out again in a couple of weeks and I'd say he'll go on any ground.
"It is exactly nine years to the day since myself and and his owners Finbarr and his wife Ailish Glynn won this same race with Bar The Rest."
(TW & AM)
