Leopardstown racing:Recharge gained an utterly deserved success in the Listed Bulmers Live Glencairn Stakes at Leopardstown this evening. Kevin Prendergast's four-year-old has twice this year finished second to Fame And Glory, but finally came up trumps with that rival tucked away in his Ballydoyle box.
Chris Hayes shrewdly tracked the pacesetting Rare Ransom as they hurtled along the straight, with Duff having gained a slender advantage inside the final furlong.
Hayes always looked pretty confident, though, and found a lovely split near the rail to win by a length at odds of 2-1.
Croisultan stayed on gamely for second, while Finicius was third.
Rayeni, John Oxx’s Group One-winning chestnut, was a shade disappointing as the 15-8 favourite.
Prendergast declared: “I’m going to run him in a Group One in Paris over a mile and a quarter in two weeks’ time.
“He was entitled to win that. He’s been Group-One placed a few times and has won a couple of Group Threes.
“He’s progressing all the time and is not over-raced. That’s just his ninth run.
“We could step him up to a mile and a half eventually.”
Gilt Edge Girl led home a British 1-2-3 in the Ballyogan Stakes.
Clive Cox’s sprinter was a Listed winner at Bath last time out in April, but markedly raised her game in this competitive Group Three heat.
The Luke Morris-ridden filly had far too many guns for Michael Jarvis’ Beyond Desire, who nonetheless ran a really encouraging race as the 7-4 favourite.
Distinctive, trained by Bryan Smart and fifth in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, came from off the pace to take third spot.
Miss Gorica guaranteed a truly-run race from the head of affairs, but Gilt Edge Girl (9-1) was in an unforgiving mood and was driven along the straight for a length-and-a-quarter call over Beyond Desire.
The Ballyogan Stakes has now gone for export seven times in the last nine seasons, with this year’s winner providing Morris with his first Group-race success.
He said: “The filly done it well and Clive has done a great job with her.
“She has improved out of all recognition.”
Together, trained by Aidan O’Brien, had earlier got off the mark in the seven-furlong fillies’ maiden.
Always prominent, the heavily-backed favourite ground the Prendergast-trained Puttore into submission to score by a length.
Jockey Johnny Murtagh reported: “She did it well and the experience she got from her first run stood to her.”
Prendergast then gained the upper hand on O’Brien 30 minutes later when Dunboyne Express (7-4) defeated Ballydoyle’s odds-on favourite Master Of Hounds in the seven-furlong maiden for colts and geldings.
The classy duo flashed across the line in unison, but the former stole top honours by the shortest of heads.
Prendergast said: “He ran very green. When the penny dropped he got there a bit too soon. He’ll improve a good bit from that.
“We like him. He was always nice and a good-tempered horse.
“We’ll look at the Anglesey (Curragh, July 18) or something like that.”
John Oxx’s Shareen (6-1) later struck gold in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies Handicap over a mile and a quarter.