O'Donoghue's Zaphod impresses on debut

Zaphod came from last to first on debut, as he impressively dismissed his eight rivals in the opener at Tipperary this afternoon, the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden.

Available at 50/1 in early shows for this nine furlong contest, the John O'Donoghue-trained chestnut came in for plenty of market support and while he went as low as 6/1, he was eventually returned a 15/2 chance.

A bit slow into stride under Ronan Whelan, the gelded son of Zarak made good progress on the outer on the approach to the straight and was ridden to challenge with less than two-furlongs to go.

Getting to the front just inside the furlong pole, the Dr Marcella Burns-owned victor soon stretched clear and despite flashing his tail in the closing stages, came home four-lengths to the good.

The Jessica Harrington-trained Rapid Mission (3/1) filled the runner-up spot under Shane Foley, with a further six-lengths back to Navajo Scout (50/1) and Colin Keane in third.

Sent off a well-backed 5/2 chance (from 10s in early shows), Nine Lives finished fourth, while the easy-to-back Hypnosis (15/8 to 9/4f) could only manage a disappointing seventh.

"We don't ever really rev ours up first time and you could see that, he missed the kick and took a bit of time to get into his stride but once he did he raced lovely," O'Donoghue commented.

"We knew he would handle the ground. The last half a dozen pieces of work he's done have been on grass and when I saw the rain we knew he'd handle it.

"We were second in this race last year with Kingswood so we knew the type of race it was going to be and how we'd have to ride it.

"Herbertstown Stud were kind enough to send him to me a long time ago, early in the season, so we'll speak to them first before putting any plans forward."

STEWARDS REPORTS

R.P. Whelan, rider of Zaphod, trained by John S. O'Donoghue, reported to the Clerk of the Scales that his mount ran green when he hit the front.

The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board Veterinary Officer examined Hypnosis, trained by A.P.O'Brien, at the request of the Raceday Stewards and reported the animal to be post race normal.

Additional reporting by Alan Magee