Jack Kennedy following his 500th career winner© Photo Healy Racing
Jack Kennedy registered his 500th career winner today as the Gold Cup winner steered Yeats Star (2/1f) to land Downpatrick's opening Northern Ireland Bookmakers Maiden Hurdle, appropriately for trainer Gordon Elliott.
Yeats Star was a narrow loser under Kennedy at Roscommon in September but today made no mistake, taking the lead in the dip and scoring by 13 lengths from Talk In The Park
Kennedy's biggest success came in the 2021 Cheltenham Gold Cup on the Henry De Bromhead-trained Minella Indo but today's winner was the 24-year-old's 415th for his biggest supporter trainer Elliott.
Regarding Yeats Star, Kennedy said "he has been knocking on the door, so it is great for him to get off the mark. It is great for Bertie Mannion, his owner, who has had horses with Gordon through the years, so it is great to get a winner for him.
"We went a good gallop and this horse stays well, so over 2m1f I was happy with the gallop we were going. I picked it up plenty early on him, but he galloped all the way to the line.
"I made the running on him the last day and he was probably a little bit lairy in front, and probably didn't get to go hard enough on him."
Quotes from Michael Graham
