Family Pride and Kevin Manning hold on from Lily's Rainbow and Wayne Lordan© Photo Healy Racing
The two previous Jim Bolger runners on the card, Tap Focus (5th 6.05) and County Wexford (3rd 7.35) were well-backed before coming up short, but Kevin Manning wasn't taking no for an answer from Family Pride in the Crowne Plaza Hotel Race & Stay Handicap.
Family Pride, home-bred by the Bolgers, certainly wasn't un-supported either at 11/2, and Manning asked him to go and put the race to bed from the quarter mile pole.
It was soon going to take a serious finishing burst from one of his rivals, to reel in the three-year-old, who'd be absent since December.
To her great credit, one of the ones up the top of the handicap, Lily's Rainbow finished off really well, but she was a neck down at the line.
Ger Flynn, representing Bolger, said: "He was a bit weak last year and he was a shade unlucky on his second last run for Rory (Cleary, a close up 4th here on November 26th).
"They went plenty fast enough tonight and he showed a good cruising pace. It was a well-judged ride from Kevin." (AM & EM)
