Sally Park (left) beats Peace Party© Photo Healy Racing
Sally Park rewarded some in-running punters in style at Navan today when matching at 1,000 (999/1) before rallying in dramatic style to win the concluding Meath Farm Machinery (P-A) INH Bumper for trainer Paul Flynn and jockey Barry Browne.
Browne, who steered Swamp Fox to an agonising runner-up defeat in August’s Galway Hurdle, was returning to action in today’s newcomers’ bumper having fractured his right shoulder at Killarney on August 26.
He made much of the running on Sally Park, but the son of Flemensfirth was headed with half a mile to race and indeed dropped to fourth with two furlong to race.
Sally Park, backed from 12/1 this morning in to 7/1 at the off, responded tremendously for pressure though and in the closing stages finished strongly to edge past leader Peace Party close home, for a half length win.
There was E39 matched on the winner at the ceiling price of 1,000 in the in-running market on Betfair and following the race, Flynn, himself successful in the 2011 renewal of the Galway Hurdle with Moon Dice, said “he (Sally Park) was going to go point-to-pointing until recently and we’re glad we didn’t now! He galloped all the way to the line.”
The winner, a half-brother to dual bumper winner but injury-plagued Owen Mc, carries the colours of Flynn’s wife Claire Howes.
Quotes from Alan Magee
