Damsel In Distress helps Coen to treble in Roscommon

Horses named after footballers fought out the final race at Wexford last Tuesday with Garnacho defeating Costacurta in the rated novice chase over 2m3f.

The winner is trained near Monasterevin by Mark Fahey and he was partnered to victory by his regular rider Tom O’Connor from Dingle.

A well-backed 11-4 favourite, Garnacho was making his debut over fences and jumped pretty well in the main, finding the lead at the last fence and staying on to win by over two lengths. He should be able to add to the tally before too long.

Jockey Ben Coen starred at Roscommon on Tuesday evening with a 120-1 treble for three different trainers.

Two of his winners came for Curragh stables, starting with Damsel In Distress in the opening auction maiden for juveniles for trainer Danny McLoughlin.

An 11-1 chance, this filly got the better of trainer Jim Bolger’s 11-10 favourite, Sea Of Rain, after the pair singled out in the final two furlongs. Damesel In Distress, making her second career start, edged just over a length clear at the line.

“She is a filly we have always liked from day one. I didn’t think she would be my first two-year-old runner of the year but they have taken a little time,” McLoughlin said.

“When gates opened on her debut [at Limerick on May 31] she got stagefright and she was slowly away but she came home well.

“We worked on her in the gates and she has gone the right way since; she was only getting going in the last 50 yards there. She will be exciting next year and we will give her time as she is still only a frame of a filly.” 

Coen’s bookended the fixture taking out the final race, a maiden over 12 furlongs for older horses, with Ashikita for his boss Johnny Murtagh.

This mare was purchased from the Aga Khan Studs for just €3,000 at Goffs in November 2024. She ran with some promise on her return to action only a month ago when huge odds of 125-1. With that experience behind her, she started a 15-8 favourite and was not for passing in the home straight, over two lengths clear at the line.

Johnny Murtagh and his stable jockey Ben Coen have struck a rich vein of form and the pair combined for a double at Fairyhouse on Wednesday evening.

Coen was adding to the treble he achieved at Roscommon the evening before and he struck first at the Meath track when the consistent Treasure Rose made it back-to-back wins in the Irish EBF fillies’ handicap over six furlongs.

In the famous yellow and blue silks of the Smurfit family, Treasure Rose fought out a head margin as an 11-2 chance.

Murtagh said later on Racing TV: “Ben said to me at the start of the year that we should drop her back to six furlongs when I was thinking she wanted a mile and a quarter!

“She is getting it together and she had to be brave there. She always showed a nice level of ability and these fillies, when they start improving, who knows? She might make into a premier handicap filly now between six and seven furlongs.” The double arrived courtesy of Vanir in the final race, a fillies’ maiden over 12 furlongs. A few of the biggest yards were represented here so this was probably a decent contest – in keeping with most Irish maidens, admittedly.

In the colours of Newtown Anner Stud, Vanir needed virtually all of the mile and a half to get her head in front, scoring by a length as the 11-10 favourite.

Murtagh and Coen clicked again in the opening race of Bellewstown’s three-day fixture on Thursday when Celtic Moon took the fillies’ maiden over a mile as a 2-1 favourite.

Skerries trainer Karl Thornton got on the scoresheet at Fairyhouse last midweek when his sprinter Monastere won for the first time.

The breakthrough came on the eighth run of the four-year-old’s career. Kildare apprentice Jack Cleary took the ride and bounced him straight to the lead. They hardly saw another rival after that, coming home almost two lengths clear of the runner-up.

Monastere had shown his first solid bit of form at this course and distance on his most recent outing when second, but despite that he returned a 20-1 chance.

Kill trainer Ross O’Sullivan and Athenry jockey Danny Gilligan have developed a potent link and they teamed up for a couple of winners last week.

The first of those came courtesy of Global Skies (2-1 favourite) at Limerick in the 2m4f handicap hurdle.

This horse is in good form and was backing up a victory in a similar race at Clonmel a month prior. He jumped the last hurdle upsides two other challengers but found the most under pressure to prevail by half a length.

The pair also combined successfully with another favourite Giant Haystacks (5-2) at Wexford on Friday.

This guy might be seen out next at Galway for owners The Keep It Simple Syndicate.

Leigh Roche guided Happy Henry to success in the five-furlong handicap for Curragh trainer Willie McCreery, also his owner and breeder.

The 4-1 co-favourite finished strongly to win by a length and a half. This in-form sprinter looks capable of being competitive again when he goes up in grade next time out.

Clever Court, a 50-1 outsider with no form to speak of and pulled up in his four previous starts, sprang an almighty shock at Bellewstown on Saturday in the Adare Manor-sponsored handicap hurdle for conditional riders.

Tinahely trainer Philip Rothwell plotted this coup with much credit also due to the Naas rider Shane O’Callaghan, content to bide his time before creeping into contention with a couple of flights to tackle. The winning margin was two lengths.

Curragh trainers were amongst the winners at Naas on Saturday. Danny Murphy saddled Sovereign Cry to win his first race, an apprentice handicap for young Limerick rider Terry Casey at odds of 9-2.

The meeting ended with John O’Donoghue preparing LL Coulsty (4-1) to snatch the three-year-old handicap over seven furlongs by a short-head. Meath apprentice Rory Mulligan, enjoying a good season, took the ride here.