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Punchestown 2024
Punchestown 2024
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- Review curragh 29th Jun
Review curragh 29th Jun
Owner Andrew Tinkler's Irish operation picked up a valuable dividend when the progressive three-year-old Ursa Major took the feature Derby Festival Irish Stallion Farms EBF Handicap at the Curragh.
Never out of the first two in four starts for the Tommy Carmody team, the son of Galileo was following up a seven-length victory over the same course and distance earlier this month, having gone up 10lb.
Niall McCullagh came down the wide outside in the straight with a long sweeping run on the 11-4 favourite and beat Buy Back Bob by a length and a half.< Shamiran (8-1) won over hurdles at the Punchestown Festival in April and made it a notable double by landing the Eflow Rewards Apprentice Derby for trainer Stephen Nolan.
The seven-year-old looked to be struggling as Equity Swap and Paddy The Celeb fought for the lead heading to the final furlong, but stayed on dourly for Mark Enright and grabbed them in the shadow of the post to beat the former by a head.
Punters who sided with Mick Halford's 2-1 shot Regulation in the Sycamore Lodge Equine Hospital Maiden never had a moment's worry as the three-year-old travelled best throughout and could be called the winner a long way out.
Shane Foley nudged him up to join leader Paene Magnus at the furlong pole and he quickened nicely clear to beat the staying-on Lady Jock by three and a half lengths.
Halford and Foley completed a double when Massiyn (8-1) collared Vedani close home to take the Silken Thomas Handicap by half a length, with both protagonists running in the colours of the Aga Khan.
Vedani's trainer John Oxx introduced a useful youngster in Sinaniya (11-2), who carried the Aga Khan's silks to an all-the-way victory under Johnny Murtagh in the Irish Field EBF Fillies Maiden, though she tired in the end and hung on by a head from My Special J's