Koko Lane took the final race on the card at Downpatrick this afternoon, the Dunlop Agri & Nugent "Spirit 25" Horse Trailers Flat Race for the bumper kings Willie and Patrick Mullins.
Having finished a disappointed seventh on his first start at Listowel behind Missunited when sent off the 3/1 joint favourite, the son of Kalanasi performed much better on his next start at Gowran just failing to catch Van Diems Land going down by a neck at the line.
Running in the colours of Justin Carthy from Chronicle Bookmakers the winner was pushed along and looked in trouble three furlongs from home. However he responded well to pressure and hit the front just over a furlong out. Ironmill Lad at 6/1 for Jeffrey Mulhern then threw down a strong late challenge but the winner did just enough to score by a short head at the odds of 6/4 favourite. Griesenau for Noel Meade and Nina Carberry finished a further three and a quarter lengths back in third at 11/4.
Winning rider Patrick Mullins said afterwards: "He has improved with every run and he improved again today.
"I think he had more in the tank as he couldn’t see the other horse coming to challenge him.
"The ground out there today is summer soft and I would be worried about him on real heavy ground.
"Staying trips will be ideal for him in the future."
