Johnnys Girl (near side) and Kristian Goingwel jumping the last© Photo Healy Racing
Johnnys Girl justified good support when successful for trainer Norman Lee and 7lb claimer Gearoid Brouder in the Greenmount Equine Hospital Novice Handicap Chase at Limerick.
The eight-year-old mare won a point-to-point on debut but hadn’t shown too much in ten outings under rules and as a result was racing off a real basement mark here.
However, she attracted interest just before the start of this extended 2m6f event which saw her odds tumble from 25/1 into 11/1. Chesterville set a strong pace and soon built up a sizeable lead although that was whittled away going down the back straight for the final time. The front-runner had dropped away as Kristian Goingwel appeared to be living up to his name approaching the final two fences.
However, Johnny’s Girl answered every call from Brouder and got on top on the run-in to beat the 3/1 favourite by a length and a half. Miracle In Medinah made a number of mistakes but the top-weight kept on one paced a further three and three quarter lengths back in third.
Lee, who is based near Gort in Co Galway, said “It’s great to get that winner. She’s a grand mare and was well entitled to win off that weight. She was running off a mark of 73 and claiming 7lb.
“It’s great to get it for her owner Johnny McDonnell and she’ll go for another race like that.
“I think the race fell apart a bit. I told Gearoid to wait and wait on her and the weight might come into calculations on this ground. He gave her a great ride.
“She loves the soft ground. She’s a slow type of mare but slow horses win races in the right conditions.”
