Donagh O’Connor’s association with trainer Ross O’Sullivan is yielding plenty of success and the pair clicked again as the 4/1 chance John La Bear took the eight-furlong nursery handicap at Dundalk on Wednesday. Owned by Eugene Brennan and the Black Gold Syndicate, the two-year-old got the better of Mark Fahey’s 11/4 joint-favourite Mo Anam Chara close to the finish to win by a length and a quarter.
Conor Stone-Walsh rode his first jumps winner at Navan when partnering the James Dunne-owned and bred Coole Cafe to take the two-mile one-furlong academy hurdle on Saturday. A 33/1 chance for trainer Gavin Cromwell, she headed the Con O’Keeffe-trained 10/1 shot Kilbarry Lizzy after the final hurdle to score by two and a quarter lengths. In his days as an apprentice on the Flat, Stone-Walsh rode three winners at the course.
Cromwell teamed up with Duncormick’s Eoin Staples to win the two and a half-mile handicap hurdle with Dgalwaygallivantor at Cork on Sunday.
A 12/1 chance for the Gallivantors Syndicate, the six-year-old came with a late run and got up in the final few yards to pip Michael McDonagh’s Happy Dreams, another at odds of 12/1, by a neck.
Upcoming Fixtures
Punchestown – Tuesday, December 9 (First race 11.50am)
Dundalk – Wednesday, December 10 (First race 3.45pm)
Dundalk – Friday, December 12 (First race 5.15pm)
Fairyhouse – Saturday, December 13 (First race 12.02pm)
Navan – Sunday, December 14 (First race 11.50am)
The Gavin Cromwell-trained Coole Cafe and Conor Stone-Walsh tackles eventual runner-up Kilbarry Lizzy over the final hurdle before going on to win at Navan on Saturday.
Photo: Patrick McCann/Racing Post