Lohengrin delights Alan Delany with Laytown glory

Alan Delany realised a long-held ambition as Lohengrin landed the Pride Of Place Maiden in his colours at Laytown.

The fixture occupies a unique place in the calendar as the only official race event to take place on a beach in Britain and Ireland, with racing having featured on the strand since the 1860s and Delany, who is assistant trainer to his father Eamon, has been keen to add to previous success for his family at the meeting.

Lohengrin finished third for previous connections last year and was sent off a 6-1 shot this time, coming home a two-length winner under Jordan Gainford.

Delany, who is also a committee member at Laytown, said: “It is absolutely brilliant. Our family are long associated with here.

“I honestly thought we would run very, very well. The last winner for the family here was in 1965, trained by my grandfather Eamon Delany and ridden by Francis Flood, which was obviously 60 years ago today.

“It was one I wanted to get on the CV.

“Dad is at home and he is not in the best of health, and this is better than any medication. You can’t get this medication.

“I’m very lucky with the staff we have and the owners we have that support us. There’s a huge crowd here all backing us.”

Amanirenas edged a narrow verdict in the Gilna’s Cottage Inn Handicap.

Trained by Michael Grassick, Amanirenas was a 13-2 shot in the hands of Dylan Browne McMonagle and after hitting the front a furlong out, she stuck to her guns to see off Cu Chulainn by a neck.

“She just lost her way, for whatever reason, I don’t know,” said Grassick.

“If you watch her run in Leopardstown the last day, she looked like she was going to win a furlong down. It was her first time with a pair of blinkers and Gavin (Ryan) just said she was too gassy.

“I’d say it was just the beach (that helped) and she is well handicapped on last year’s form.”

Colin Keane steered the Patrick Magee-trained Lismacbryan Hill (6-1) to a comprehensive five-length victory in the Tote.ie Claiming Race.

Magee said: “There were just bits and pieces of excuses, she had some good runs.

“I always find that it is very hard with a low-grade sprinter in this country as there are 22 runners in most fields – Navan, Cork and Naas, and all those (tracks).

“She was actually impressive today. We do a lot of work on the beach actually, so she knew where she was going!”

Lismacbryan Hill was subsequently claimed by James McAuley to be trained by Denis Hogan.

Hogan was on the mark himself in the Download The New Tote App (Q.R.) Handicap, with 15-2 shot Dontspoilasale leading from start to finish under a well-judged ride from Adam Ryan.

The winner was making his stable debut, having been claimed out of Ado McGuinness’ yard after finishing third at Dundalk last month.

Hogan said: “The boys (James McAuley and James Gough) are very good at it (claiming horses). They are so sharp, they are sharks on form and upcoming races!

“They are placing them and they are a joy to train for – they do a lot of the work for me. I just have them healthy and fit on the day.

“Adam gave him a lovely ride and the 5lb (claim) was a big help.”

McGuinness enjoyed a quickfire double in the final two races via Distillate (6-1) in the O’Neills.com Handicap and Exquisite Acclaim (9-2) in the Tote, Never Beaten By SP (Q.R.) Handicap.