British raider Bunyola Bay wins free entry to the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby
Bunyola Bay, Sean Levey with Ross Doyle (rep trainer Richard Hannon and owner Michael Geoghegan) Photo: Healy Racing
The third renewal of the valuable €200,000 Irish EBF Gowran Classic went to the progressive Bunyola Bay (by Ghaiyyath), who delivered a commanding pillar-to-post masterclass to secure the €110,000 winner's purse for trainer Richard Hannon, owner Michael Geoghegan, and jockey Sean Levey. Bunyola Bay now has an automatic entry into the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby on Sunday, June 28th.
Tipperary trainer Andrew Slattery picked up €60,000 in prize money by securing second and third positions with fillies Mo Mhuirin (by Magna Grecia) and Cherry Hill Girl (by Belardo) respectively. Mo Mhuirin is bred and owned by Dr. Ronan Tynan, the world-renowned Irish tenor, Paralympic gold medalist, and orthopedic sports physician.
Another highlight of the day was the €1,000 Cash Sweepstakes. Thirteen names were drawn and linked to the thirteen runners in the feature race; when Bunyola Bay crossed the line in front, racegoer Andrea Bradston instantly won €1,000 in cash and all other entrants went away with prizes to 4th place and goodies bags from Gowran Park.
The Irish EBF Gowran Classic is the centrepiece of the Smullen Series—an 18-race programme for middle-distance horses. The series begins in July with the Listed Pat Smullen Stakes at Naas for two-year-olds and concludes the following season with this valuable race for three-year-olds, boasting a total of €665,000 in prize money. The objective of the series is to provide breeders, owners, and trainers of middle-distance horses with valuable races during their two-year-old and three-year-old campaigns.
Winning Jockey Sean Levey (representing trainer Richard Hannon):
"It was impressive, and he had to be today because he's relatively inexperienced and it was his first time going around a bend. We've always liked him, and looking at him in the ring beforehand, he stood out quite a lot. He handled the track wonderfully well and won a very nice prize. He's definitely a nice horse—how nice, we don't know yet."
Trainer Andrew Slattery (on the second and third place finishes):
"Both fillies ran absolute blinders to pick up a massive share of the prize money behind a very talented winner. Mo Mhuirin stayed on exceptionally well for Ronan [Tynan], and Cherry Hill Girl was very honest right to the line. It’s a brilliant series to target for our three-year-olds."
