CHOPIN ON TUNE IN WGOBA UNRACED

    Ian Fortune

    Badminton Chopin was a tremendous winner of the WGOBA Open Unraced at Enniscorthy on Monday night, although he had to dig very deep to contain the big finish of Bounceback Luna.

    The contest was cut up somewhat with Sallagh Larry and Sallagh Curly both pulled out as both got over a little issue, leaving the door open for one of the remaining competitors. It was soon evident that Badminton Chopin was going to emerge the one to beat, breaking smartly from five before soon mastering Stripe Jimboy into the turn.

    Entering the back straight with three lengths in hand on Stripe Jimboy and Bounceback Luna, David McGrath’s son of Ballyhimikin Jet and Badminton Razl set sail for home. Bounceback Luna is very strong, however, and she began to close into the third turn.

    This set up a wonderful finish. The Donal Murphy trained Badminton Chopin continued to find out front but he needed to as Bounceback Luna continued to close. The pair flashed post together. After a few moments, the judge declared that Badminton Chopin had held on by the minimum margin in 28.81.

    There was a further five and a half length gap to Kiltrea Cliff in third. Both the winner and runner-up have been progressive through the valuable competition and it seems certain there is more to come. While the absence of both Sallagh Curly and Sallagh Larry from the decider was disappointing, there seems little doubt this will turn out to be another wonderful unraced stake at Enniscorthy, which continues to be a great starting ground for future stars.