NO STOPPING DA LITTLE ROCKET IN YOUGHAL

NO STOPPING DA LITTLE ROCKET IN YOUGHAL

Barry Drake

Da Little Rocket, in the care of Daniel Cronin for the B-Y-K-Syndicate, landed the feature in Youghal on Tuesday afternoon, the final of the Ballyhimikin Jet @ Stud A2 525.

A fantastic servant for connections, the popular local tracker was recording a 14th career success and making it back-to-back wins in the feature final. In the mix early, the well-fancied 6-5 favourite showed a lovely injection of speed on the opening turns to take up the running, and from there, he always looked in control. Witches North gave it a good go, but the Rocket had all the answers much to the delight of his army of supporters. The Cronin kennels always produce a couple of nice types around Youghal and Cork, while they are no stranger to big race success either, most recently with Droopys Wriggle who is trained by Robert Gleeson for the Cronin family.

DAY TO REMEMBER FOR THE VARIAN FAMILY

It was a day to remember for the Varian kennels as the family recorded a treble on the day. Derra Viva got up in the final stride to win the sixth, an A7-A8, in 29.88. A return to form for Trevor Varian's lady.

A couple of races later, in the ninth, Prince Harvey recorded back-to-back wins, showing much improved form to win for Damien Varian, winning the A6 contest, in 29.72, at odds of 6-1.

The day got even better in the closing race, an A4, as Classy Dilemma delivered a fine front-running winning performance to score. The 15-8 favourite clocked 29.78 when winning with plenty to spare for Trevor Varian.

PENNY PULLS OUT ALL THE STOPS

In the opener, Inniskeen Penny continued her love affair with Youghal track, as the well-backed 5-6 favourite just did enough to fend off Ardrath Ali and Slaneyside Adler. A real star over the last number of months for the father and son combination of Sean and Jake Faul, Penny pulled out all the stops in the closing stages, winning by half a length, in 29.33.

Elsewhere on the card, it was a great day for James Hennessy as Kilmeedy Milly powered to success in the seventh, coming from the clouds, to win the A4, in 29.62, at odds of 3-1. A first-ever winner for the local kennel and no doubt many more will follow.

In the following race, Witches Bronte clocked the quickest run of the day, posting 29.23 in the A3, with Liam Twomey's even-money favourite leading all the way. 

Image: Ciara Kiely, David Griffin, Daniel Cronin (Trainer), Conor Closhessy and Adam Bulman, pictured with Da Little Rocket, winner of the Ballyhimikin Jet @ Stud A2 stake.