Press gets deserved win to his name

Full Court Press got a deserved win to his name, as he took the Roscommon Handicap under Connor King for Johnny Murtagh.

Beaten a nose into second by Birthplace at Limerick last month, the son of Frozen Power was sent off a 6/1 chance today.

In mid-division on the outer early, he made good progress down the back straight to track the leaders.

He travelled nicely to lead two furlongs out, and was ridden out from the furlong pole, keeping on well to score by a neck. Lord Justice (10's to 8's) pressed the winner from over a furlong out, but he couldn't get his head in front and had to settle for second under Ana O'Brien for her father Aidan. Ceol Na Nog who was sent off the 5/2 favourite (from 3's), raced prominently before being headed from the two furlongs pole. She eventually finished a length back in third under Kevin Manning for Jim Bolger.

Johnny Murtagh, who was also on the mark at Wexford on Saturday, said afterwards: "He deserved that and has always been knocking on the door. He had the hood on and we took it off today but he's still a bit of a baby.

"These three-year-old handicaps are competitive, and hopefully he can go on and win another one. I'm happy with the way things are going, and our horses are running very consistent."

Additional reporting by Alan Magee