Twenty-nine year old Pat McLoughlin, who notched up fifty-six wins in the saddle over a four year period in Britain, recorded his first victory since returning home over two years ago when he teamed up with Monty Fox, trained by his father John, to win the Termonfeckin Handicap Hurdle at Dundalk last evening.
'I rode for John White in England and one of the reasons I returned home was to help my father with the training at his county Leitrim yard,' said the winning rider.
Warren O'Connor was taken to hospital after banging his left-knee coming out of the stalls on Heart Of The Ocean which under the circumstances did well to fill the third berth behind easy odds-on scorer Patruel in the Annagassan Maiden over nine furlongs. It was later reported Wexford-born O'Connor had ' a soft tissue injury.'
Sent off at 4-7, the winning daughter of Rainbow Quest drew steadily clear from the two furlong pole under Niall McCullagh to score by five-and-half lengths for Sheikh Mohammed and John Oxx.
Top-weight Dromhall Lady and Danny Grant battled back gamely inside the final furlong to justify favouritism for Pat Flynn in the Derrinstown Stud Apprentice Handicap before Dublin rider Mick Hussey brought his career tally to six when scoring on Declan Gillespie's 12-1 shot Fraser Carey in the penultimate Castlebellingham Handicap.
..
