Big Rathkeale success in Boylesports JT McNamara Munster National in Limerick

RATHKEALE trainer Eric McNamara was the headline maker at Limerick Racecourse on Sunday where his two winners included Real Steel which gained another big-race success when taking the Grade 3 Boylesports JT McNamara Munster National Handicap Chase.

Winner of the Paddy Power Handicap Chase at the Leopardstown Christmas Festival in 2022, the 11-year-old bounced back to form with a fine front-running ride from Danny Mullins who, in the colours of owner Tadhg Moynihan, brought the 8/1 chance home a three and a half-length winner from Willie Mullins’ 13/8 favourite Horantzau D’airy.

This was a second win in the big race for Limerick trainer McNamara who had previously been successful with Kaselectric, ridden by Limerick’s now Clerk of the Course Paul Moloney, in 1999.

In winning, Real Steel, who was sixth in the 2020 Cheltenham Gold Cup when trained by Willie Mullins, landed Down Syndrome Limerick a €20,000 charity sweepstake prize, sponsored by JP McManus.

Limerick trainer McNamara was earlier on the mark with the Sean Flanagan-ridden Spring Meadow which led home a 1-2 for the stable in the two-mile three-furlong handicap hurdle. The 3/1 favourite came from off the pace to win from the 4/1 shot Dream In The Park which was ridden by highly rated young Rathkeale jockey Callum Hogan.

Eric McNamara had landed his first winner of the weekend at Limerick as Hees Dynamite took the opening division of the two-mile five-furlong handicap hurdle at Greenmount Park.

Ridden by Sean Flanagan, the John Earls-owned 4/1 favourite had plenty in hand as he got the better of the David Barry-trained It’s Time Again by a length and three-parts.

Runners-up to odds-on favourite Mr Percy with Rapparee Champ in the opening four-year-old maiden hurdle, Ballingarry trainer Charles Byrnes and his son Philip landed the two-mile handicap hurdle with Redcliff Glen at Limerick on Saturday.

Owned by Cathal Byrnes, the 40/1 chance, another four-year-old, held off the Paul Power-trained 11/2 chance Morepowertoya by a neck.

Meanwhile, Ballingarry jockey Billy Lee just can’t be stopped and he kicked off the new week with a first and last race double at Roscommon on Monday. The success brought his tally for the season to 89 winners, matching his previous best total which he achieved in 2022.

He teamed up with Henry de Bromhead to partner the three-year-old Ata Rangi in the opening seven and a half-furlong maiden. The Ben Halsall-owned 9/4 chance led after two furlongs and made the best of his way home to win by a length and a quarter from Joseph O'Brien’s 6/5 favourite Thequietman.

Lee gained a second win when taking the concluding 12-furlong handicap on Charles O’Brien’s 3/1 favourite Paradise Lost. The Jack Singleton-owned five-year-old came from off the pace and only led in the shadows of the post to beat Noel Meade’s 12/1 chance Billie Frechette.

A double at the Curragh on Thursday on horses trained in Northern Ireland certainly raised the possibility of Billy Lee reaching the 100-winner mark before the season’s end on the first Sunday in November. Lee won the second division of the eight-furlong median sires series maiden on the Natalia Lupini-trained Thebelmontgangster.

The 13/2 chance went clear over a furlong out to beat Joseph O'Brien’s 4/5 favourite Nobler by two and three-parts of a length. Andy Oliver’s Apercu scored the narrowest of wins in the 10-furlong handicap to give the jockey his second winner of the day. Owned by Team Valor, the 15/8 favourite led over two furlongs from the finish and prevailed by a nose from the gutsy 9/4 shot Fleetfoot which was ridden for Jim Bolger by Shanagolden jockey Chris Hayes.

The Lee and Henry de Bromhead combination were on the mark again as the two-year-old Nyman won the seven-furlong nursery handicap at Dundalk on Friday evening. Owned by Michael Murphy, the 15/2 chance came with his challenge over a furlong from the finish and got on top close to the line to beat Donnacha O'Brien’s 9/1 shot Shimmy Jimmy by half a length, the jockey’s 92nd winner of the season.

At odds of 2/1 favourite, the Chris Hayes-ridden Elizabeth Jane took the Listed Thomas’s Of Foxrock Trigo Stakes at Leopardstown on Sunday. Owned and bred by Moyglare Stud and trained by Dermot Weld, the three-year-old led inside the final furlong and drew away to win by a length and three-parts from Noel Meade’s Layfayette, a 6/1 chance ridden by Colin Keane. The winner stays in training for next season.

Upcoming Fixtures

Curragh – Tuesday, October 22 (First Race 12.30pm)

Navan – Wednesday, October 23 (First Race 1.30pm)

Clonmel – Thursday, October 24 (First Race 1.53pm)

Dundalk – Friday, October 25 (First Race 5.30pm)

Sligo – Friday, October 25 (First Race 1.30pm)

Galway – Saturday, October 26 (First Race 1.58pm)

Galway – Sunday, October 27 (First Race 12.50pm)

Wexford – Sunday, October 28 (First Race 1.05pm)