Sunchart shines again in Naas feature
Sunchart ridden by Andrew Slattery wins The TOTE Irish EBF Devoy Stakes (Listed) at Naas. Picture: Morgan Treacy/Inpho
Sunchart, trained by Andy Slattery and ridden by his son and namesake, repeated last year’s win in the listed TOTE Irish EVF Devoy Stakes in Naas.
Pat Garvey’s eight-year-old, relishing the testing conditions, came through strongly to master Enfranchise and Trustyourinstinct in convincing style.
“He loves this place and an ease in the ground,” stated a delight Slattery. “He never runs a bad race here and it’s a pity there aren’t more race for him here.
“It took him a long time to win, but he’s been a great servant. He’s eight and I’d say we might go travelling with him, to Germany, or somewhere he’ll get soft ground. A mile and a quarter or a mile and half suits him.
“And, I suppose, he could go back over hurdles at some stage, although Pat (Garvey) isn’t fond of the idea.”
Fresh from a successful winter campaign in Dundalk, crowned by a Friday night double, David Marnane and Luke McAteer took the earlier Irish Racing Writers Association Ron McKnight Memorial Madrid 3-Y-0 Handicap with East Hampton, gelded since his last run, who came from off the pace, under a confident ride, to beat Wizard Of Odds by a length and a half.
“He was fresh today and will learn from it – he wants an ease and Luke gave him a fabulous ride,” stated Marnane, “We brought him to Dundalk in the autumn, but he didn’t like the surface. So we put him away with this race in mind.
“He’s a good horse and we’ll keep going with him once there’s a bit of an ease.”
Aidan O’Brien delivered his first success of 2025 when 105-rated trinity College (10/11 favourite) made all under Wayne Lordan to see off stable-companion Acapulco Bay by two lengths in the concluding TRM-Supplements You Can Trust Race.
O’Brien said: “It was nice to get him started. He’ll stay further and we’ll look at a Derby trial for him — he could be a French Derby horse. Obviously, both horses will come forward from today.”
In the maiden action, Ger Lyons introduced a potentially high-class prospect in Faiyum (by Frankel) to win the one-mile fillies maiden, beating a couple of experienced rivals with authority.
“We knew she was nice and I put her in the ‘Park Express’ the other day,” said Lyons, “Fingers crossed, she keep progressing.”
And Jamie Powell got off the mark for the new season on board Noel Meade’s Rowdy Yeats in the seven-furlong maiden, rewarding his trainer’s decision to go for a maiden rather than contest the ‘Madrid’ off a mark of 91.
An ability to handle testing conditions proved crucial in the handicap action, resulting in clear-cut victories for Ger O’Leary’s Noble Nation in the opening 0-70 sprint and the Jessica Harrington-trained Hurricane Ivor in the DAR Golf Handicap.
Off the track since scoring at Sligo last August, Noble Nation (Shane Foley) bolted-up by five and a half lengths in the opener, prompting O’Leary to comment: “The ground is the key to him – Shane said he loved it. Six furlongs is his trip. The handicapper will have his say now, so I’ll have to go back to the calendar to make plans.”
Later, Shane Foley partnered favourite Love Billy Boy in the seven-furlong handicap but failed to figure behind 20/1 shot Hurricane Ivor, trained by his boss Jessica Harrington and enterprisingly ridden to an impressive win by Scott McCullagh.
Clear early in the straight, the eight-year-old won, eased down, by three and three-quarter lengths from Money Dancer.
The winning trainer declared, “He’s a cool dude – when he’s on song, he’s on song. He worked well up Walsh’s Hill during the week and we were expecting a big run. He loves bossing it. Seven furlongs is not a problem as he gets older and he might go a mile.”
