Longford jockey Eoin Kelly steers 'Vale Of Glory' to Punchestown victory

A Longford jockey was among the winners at Punchestown last week.

Rathowen trainer Adrian Murray sent out a 14/1 winner at Punchestown on Tuesday, May 23 where Vale Of Glory took the opening division of the two-mile handicap hurdle.

With Granard conditional jockey Eoin Kelly riding in his father Mickey’s colours, the eight-year-old was a few lengths clear when making a mistake at the final hurdle but he recovered to win by a length and a quarter form the Ross O'Sullivan-trained 7/2 favourite Crafty Gael, a third career success for the jockey.

Conditional jockey Eoin Walsh rode the 50th winner of his career when partnering Princess Sophia to take the second division of the two-mile handicap hurdle at Punchestown on Tuesday.

Trained by Ciaran Murphy, the 10/1 chance made all the running to beat the Tony Martin-trained Movie King by a length and a quarter for her owners, the Real Dirty Dozen Syndicate.

Longford trainer Paul Flynn also landed a notable success as the Galway Girl Syndicate-owned Timourid won the 10-furlong handicap at the Curragh on Saturday, May 27.

The 16/1 chance didn’t enjoy the clearest of runs but once in the open, he picked up well under Joey Sheridan to score by a head from the Andy Slattery-trained Smooth Tom. It was a 95th career success for the winning jockey who has now lost his claim.

Rory Cleary and Jim Bolger were among the winners as Halla Ban took the 10-furlong handicap at Roscommon on Monday, May 22. A 7/1 chance, she didn’t get the best of runs in the straight but came through to lead in the final strides to beat the Tony Martin-trained 14/1 shot Pralognan by a neck with Jessica Harrington’s 2/1 favourite Dubawi Spectre only a head away in third place.

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