Waterville Dancer© Photo Healy Racing
Waterville Dancer was the well backed (5/1 — 4/1f) winner of the concluding West Coast Cooler Ulster Cesarewitch Handicap at Down Royal today as the Charles Byrnes trained winner came from last to first to win under a cool ride from 7lbs claimer Ben Coen.
The son of Nathaniel, sire of Arc winner Enable, was a hurdles winner at Killarney in May and had previously failed to win in ten flat starts, but today relished the extreme 2m2f test when getting up close home for a head win over Neverushacon
Co Limerick based Byrnes was impressed by the winning jockey and said “that was some ride! It was hard to pick him out for his 7lbs (claim).
"He felt he was getting there and he said he (Waterville Dancer) fought hard to get there.
"You won't get up the inside in Down Royal and he had to come around them, there is no other way of doing it.
"He travelled much better today than he did in Galway in heavy ground and this makes up for Galway.
"He's entered in Listowel - he's in the Lartigue (Handicap) Hurdle and a 1m6f flat handicap. He might run in the flat handicap; the Lartigue is a big pot but it's only two miles and I'd say he needed two and a half miles over hurdles at this stage."
Quotes from Michael Graham
