Going - Good - Yielding. CHANGED on the hurdle/bumper course to Good after 2nd race.. Fine
Placepot Pool - 14,963.76 Dividend - 29.10 Winning Units - 359.32. Quadpot Pool - 1,594.30 Dividend - 10.80 Winning Units - 109.1. Days Aggregate - 159,461.00
No problems for Ya Ya Baby and O'Keeffe at Cork
The West Awaits brings up cross card double for Mullins
Sole Pretender makes winning return
I had an owner telling me lately my gallop was a bit too small but it's plenty big now!. the lads at home do a great job and I never had a good horse until we got him. He is a proper good horse and we can keep dreaming. He had a little issue last year and we gave him the full year off . We did a lot of minding him to keep him in one piece but he was very good after it and hopefully he'll be ok tomorrow. That was great and he is a credit to his owner Michael Hogan who never rushed me with the horse. He is a very good horse and we had him away to the Curragh a few times but had no schooling race and I thought he'd need the run to be honest. We'll make plans tonight or tomorrow but you can go anywhere once you've beaten a horse (beaten favourite and faller Petit Mouchoir) who was second in Cheltenham. He'll improve a little bit from today and we won't get carried away — talking never made a horse win.
The Very Man wins after plenty of market support
Waitnsee wins Cork's Grade 3 Chase
she (Waitnsee) deserved that and her run here against The Shunter, Heaven Help Us and when she was mugged by Home By The Lee in Cork the last day, was good enough to win this race in my opinion. She has three seconds in black-type races and won her maiden hurdle by 24 lengths and I always thought she was a proper mare and she has a heap of very good relations. We'll see what the handicapper does with her and she'll go to Punchestown now. The owners are UK based and there is a possibility of her going there for some of the good races. She is a mare to look forward to. Kevin Brouder gave her a peach of a ride and deserves a special mention and fair play to him. I'm delighted for James Hannon and the people who have Arctic Cosmos as their stallion has now sired a black-type winner and it is a good time to get it at the start of the breeding season.
Cork brace for Hayes as Murphy back at number one
said Hayes. I rode her when she was fifth in that handicap which has worked out well at Leopardstown in February. She went away on the ground, is a brilliant jumper and it is great to get black-type for her. I'm absolutely delighted for Colm Murphy and he has been very good and loyal to me. I rode a lot for him in the past and since he has got his license back I have done plenty of work for him. He has point to pointers and is training the odd few horses for the track - you don't lose it.
Cheltenham and Punchestown festival winner Josies goes in at Cork at 100/1
I said to Phidelma I'd give her a fiver for every horse she passed so who's the fool this evening!. Phidelma comes down from Wicklow every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning and leaves at 4.30am and deserves to get her chance. Mr McManus gave the horse to me for the kids to have fun with and she wanted to ride him over the banks at Punchestown so we said we'd give him a tune-up today and fair play to her. He seemed a light of older days but Aileen Sloane Lee did a great job with him as she had him until recently and freshened him up taking him to the beach. He was on fire today and Nina Carberry was the first one on the phone because she retired from him (in 2018) so it is a great story.
A win to remember for Brion and Nevin at Cork
I was starting to doubt whether I'd get a winner and am due to go back on Saturday. I had bad racing luck and didn't have time on my side but this is the ground they all want,.