Tune In A Box and Richard Patrick© Photo Healy Racing
UK-based jockey Richard Patrick and Tom Lacey both registered first Irish winners at Punchestown today, as the trainer's second-string Tune In A Box (16/1) completed a '1-3' for his Herefordshire yard in the Blood-Stock.com Full Circle Series Final Handicap Hurdle.
On his first Irish ride, jockey Patrick sent Tune In The Box into a clear lead approaching the final flight and held on well to beat runner-up Quest With by eight lengths, with the winner's stablemate Montregard finishing third.
Lacey, whose wife Sophie won an English point-to-point with Energumene before selling the future Champion Chaser to Willie Mullins, reported “the man who does my form work highlighted this series to me and as soon as I read the race conditions, I thought it was ideal for a few of those in the barn.
“We hit the qualifiers quite strong, won two and were second in another. Where can you go for an €80,000 pot for horses with those ratings - there aren't any races for them with that prize fund. It would have been crazy not to target it.”
He added “I was watching Montregard (under stable jockey Sam Sheppard) throughout the race but I kept casting my eye back to Tune In A Box and I saw him travelling everywhere. I thought Montregard would be the horse to beat and would close him down but didn't, and the winner is a horse which keeps surprising us.”
Quotes from Gary Carson
