Chally Chute wins lucrative Irish Cesarewitch for O'Sullivan

The Ross O'Sullivan-trained Chally Chute defied top weight to go one better than last year's runner-up finish and claim the €500,000 Friends Of The Curragh Irish Cesarewitch.

The 16/1 chance followed his second-place finish in the race 12 months ago with a Group 3 victory at the Curragh in November, but arrived back in handicap company after going winless in two Listed outings this season. Carrying top weight, the five-pound claim of jockey Sam Coen proved valuable as Chally Chute powered home in testing conditions.

Heavy rain on the morning of the race played to his strengths and O'Sullivan was delighted to see everything fall into place.

"You don't often get a second bite of the cherry and with the rain coming, as Julie (White, owner) said, it was meant to be.

"He won a Listed race last year and came here after. This year, we went to the Listed race and were probably unlucky not to win. Nearly out of a panic, two weeks later we went for another Listed race in Roscommon and he finished fifth. The bright side of that result was that he was dropped 3lb, which allowed him back into this race.

"He came into this race with a little bit more weight than last year. Obviously all week you are a little bit nervous with the ground and then the heavens opened last night and this morning and he gets the ground that he is best on.

"It's great that it all worked out. We came so close last year and we thought that was our one and only chance. For it to happen, it's magic."

Willie Mullins-trained Sirius finished second, while Galileo Dame, one of Joseph O'Brien's 14 runners in the 30-strong field, had to settle for third after leading approaching the final furlong.

Elsewhere on the card, Johnny Murtagh's Curracloe landed the Darley Fillies Stakes after being sent off the 13/8 joint favourite under Ben Coen.

It was a second victory of the month for the promising filly following her success at Gowran Park and Murtagh believes she could have an exciting future.

"She is a very nice filly. For ours to win first time out the way she did, she's a bit special.

"It was a beautiful race for her today. I was a bit worried about the ground but, as Ben said to me this morning, 'the good ones seem to go on any ground, Johnny', and we think she's a good one.

"She quickened up really well when she got there. She was a little bit unbalanced on the ground but she's just probably good.

"She was able to cope today but I think you'll see a much better filly on faster ground. Today was important, another test passed. She'll probably have harder steps along the way but we were very happy with the way she won today.

"She strikes me as a Guineas filly. Those long cold nights in the winter will feel a bit shorter with her to look forward to!"