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- Cheltenham hero gives Weld/Smullen 4-timer
Cheltenham hero gives Weld/Smullen 4-timer
Cheltenham winner Windsor Park provided Pat Smullen with his fourth winner
© Photo Healy Racing
Trainer Dermot Weld, and his stable jockey Pat Smullen, completed a four-timer at Gowran today, as last month's Cheltenham Festival winner Windsor Park justified 3/10 favouritism in the concluding www.gowranpark.ie For Best Offers Race.
Windsor Park's previous outing was at last month's Cheltenham Festival where he famously landed the Neptune Novices Hurdle, and with Smullen on board today, the reverting-to-the-Flat gelding produced a fine front-running display to win the finale comfortably.
Weld and Smullen have made an explosive start to the new season, and having earlier teamed up with a trio of Aga Khan owned maiden winners (Joailliere, Serefeli and Edelpour , this marked Weld's 12th and Smullen's 14th winner of the very new campaign.
Weld, who had been present for the earlier winners, wasn't present for the finale but Smullen later stated "he did what we hoped and he was idling away in front and having a good look at things; he relaxed beautifully.
"It was a lovely race for him. I don't know where he'll go next but I'll look forward to later in the year with him in stayers races.
"Obviously he'll mix it between codes, whether he'll go to Punchestown (Festival) I don't know."
By Tom Weekes, quotes from Gary Carson