Dragon Of Malta ends lenghty barren spell for O'Donnell

Cheltenham festival winning trainer Pat O’Donnell got on the score-sheet for the first time since 2011 when winning the Diarmuid Cronin Electrical Handicap (Div 2) at Killarney with Dragon Of Malta

O’Donnell took the Coral Cup in 1995 with Chance Coffey, but he’s only had small amounts of runners in recent years.

Here Dragon Of Malta travelled best to the business end under Shane Crosse, and then found enough under pressure to beat favourite Fugacious by half a length. The pair were five lengths clear of the third, Auma

"This monster is back in time - I haven't had a winner in nine years!” said O’Donnell.

"He is very consistent and soft ground makes all the difference. I was lucky with the timing last year to get him from Gavin Cromwell as the soft ground arrived.

"I was a bit worried about running him so quick after Mallow but I thought it was a great run in Mallow and was a competitive enough race.

"My son Patrick did two years of his apprenticeship in Fozzy Stack's when Shane's (Crosse) dad Matty was head lad at the time, and needless to say it was a good time for Patrick.

"I saw Shane and Nathan (Crosse) growing up as kids riding on the pony racing circuit so I'm delighted; it was Shane's first ride for me."

(TW & EM)