Marc Monaghan has a smile on his face as he approaches the line clear of his rivals aboard Man Of Erin© Photo Healy Racing
The Bill Farrell trained Man Of Erin landed an on-course gamble (12/1 into 9/2) as he took the naasracecourse.com Apprentice Handicap under Marc Monaghan.
Having his first start in handicap company, the bay son of Invincible Spirit, made all and was pushed out from the two furlong pole before keeping on well to score by three lengths.
Recent course winner Morethanafeeling for Samantha Bell and Christy Donoghue ran on to take second at 8/1 while Packsapunch ran his best race for a while to finish two and a half lengths back in third at 10/1 under Gary Phillips. Confident Cub was a further length and a half back in fourth on his handicap debut for Jim Bolger and Kevin Manning at 11/1 while the short priced 15/8 favourite Lansdowne could only manage eighth under Megan Carberry for Tracey Collins.
The winner is a half-brother to dual Listed winner Rosaleen who was trained by Brian Meehan, the Michael Bell trained Listed winner Babycakes and the five time winner Rosabay.
Winning owner Alan Dargan also bred the winner as well as his aforementioned siblings.
Bill Farrell also has a full-brother to the winner in training at present. His name is At Boolavogue and he has just one maiden run to his name.
Farrell said afterwards: "He is improving and he got cut (gelded) during the winter and it made all the difference.
"He had a good pedigree but he needed time and gelding. We will see what he (the handicapper) makes of him now and we will take our time with him. He will improve with the run."
Donal Murphy & Gary Carson
