It's an old racing adage that improving fillies need to be followed closely and Andy Slattery hopes to follow his star Creggs Pipes towards the highest level in September's 'Irish Champions Weekend' after her spectacular success yesterday.
Creggs Pipes turned what is usually one of the season's most competitive handicaps, the €120,000 Colm Quinn BMW Mile, into a ruthless procession, breaking smartly from the gates under Declan McDonogh to make all the running and justify 11-2 favouritism.
It was her fourth win in a row this summer and followed a Listed race success at Killarney earlier this month that had Slattery rubbing his hands with “job done” satisfaction.
Nobody told Creggs Pipes she was done however and after noticing a relatively negligible hike in her official rating the Co. Tipperary trainer decided to go to the well again in handicap company.
Now Slattery has over six weeks to the Group 1 Matron Stakes and at this rate there’s no knowing how much more improvement Creggs Pipes might find by then. If it’s there, the Killenaule based horseman is likely to find it.
Slattery famously trained Faugheen to win his sole point to point start, has traded on other National Hunt stars such as Cooldine and Quel Esprit, and the range of his horsemanship extends to competing in some top sprints on the flat with horses such as An Saighduir. He suspects, however, Creggs Pipes could be at a different level again.
“She just keeps doing it and she loves racing. Every day she wants it. If you leave her out in a paddock she will try to come out over the railing!” joked Slattery of a filly who failed to attract a €10,000 bid when offered at the Breeze-Up Sales.
“She loves soft ground so the rain helped but Declan actually said she wasn’t in love with the track. She was hanging, but still won. It wasn’t the plan to come here but we let her take her chance. We might as well look at the Matron now and next season I have it in my mind to go a mile and quarter,” he added.
Doubling up
McDonogh was winning the festival’s most coveted flat prize for a third time and the former champion jockey didn’t waste time doubling up on Beau Satchel who completed back-to-back wins in the following seven furlong handicap and may not be finished this week yet.
“He’s come here three times and three times he’s won. He’s in again on Saturday and in the big race on Sunday,” McGuinness said. “He just loves this place and I wish I had a few like him.”
The juvenile fillies maiden has a notable pedigree in terms of producing Group 1 stars and it seems Dermot Weld won't be surprised if Eziyra ultimately winds up competing at the top level after her smooth 2-5 success.
“She’s a big, immature filly and still has a lot to learn but has a lot of natural talent. She will handle very fast ground, and the ground today was as slow as she’d like. She is bred to stay well as there is plenty of stamina on her dam side,” said the trainer who added a second winner with Sikandarabad’s own maiden victory.
Masterclass
Ruby Walsh
produced a “master class” to land the opening novice hurdle aboard Penhill. The Willie Mullins-trained horse took an immediate dislike to Galway’s Easyfix hurdles which immediately ruled out Walsh’s plans to make the running and instead the champion jockey concentrated on educating his partner.
Somehow that education managed to smuggle Penhill into a position at the last where the horse that briefly touched 1,000-1 ‘in-running’ was able to take advantage of Oathkeeper’s slow jump and then power up the inner to win. “A master class of schooling and riding: spectacular,” praised Mullins.
However the Walsh-Mullins team were chinned by the 66-1 shot Talk The Lingo in the following Beginners Chase. Barry Cash’s mount made all to score for Joseph Hennessy.
