'Lovely ground' suits Raydari well

French-bred Raydari fairly bounced off the quick turf at Roscommon when winning Division 1 of the Pyramid Bookmakers Handicap at Roscommon over two miles.

It looked merely a matter of when the 9/4 joint favourite would overtake front-running Countess Salome and when Andrew Lynch pressed the button at the second last away the pair went. A Word Apart in the first-time hood, stayed on well for second under Barry Cash. This was a step up on the four ‘duck eggs’ most recently to his name. The 14/1 shot closed to within two and a quarter lengths at the winning post.

Trainer Rodger Sweeney has eyes for bigger prizes as he said: “He’ll go to Galway next for another handicap. The ground is a credit to Roscommon here today. It’s lovely and safe.”

Each way punters received returns from their investments on Countess Salome in third at 16/1 and fourth-placed Jack The Hat (8/1).

Raydari is a triple winner on the polytrack at Dundalk, but this was his first jumps success.

The other 9/4 joint favourite was Aranhill Chief who could make no headway from the third-last flight and had to settle for eighth place.

Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes