Confrontational with Shane Foley and Sinead O'Sullivan© Photo Healy Racing
Confrontational bagged his third win of this winter's All-Weather Championship at Dundalk today when completing a double on the day for his jockey Shane Foley in the Baroneracing.com Handicap.
The John Murphy trained five year old made a winning debut for today's jockey at Down Royal in June 2016 and today registered his fourth success, all under Classic winner Foley, when beating Kasbah by half a length.
Afterwards Foley quipped ”it only took us two years to get his running style right! He’s really enjoyed it from the front.”
He added “I thought I was going to be shot down in the last furlong but the more I got stuck into him the more he kept finding.
“He was a bit more lit up today than he was the last day. I thought he was doing a bit too much for the first three (furlongs) but lucky enough he gave himself a bit of a breather and I was able to sit on him until we turned in.
“He has a bit of a kick and it was just a question of whether he could sustain it against a better type of horse. He was rated in the 90’s at one stage.
“He’s been running with a hood up until his last run just to keep him settled and Sinead (O’Sullivan) does a great job with him because he’s not easy beforehand to lead up.
“He’s on the improve again and he’s enjoying the surface.”
Foley earlier initiated his double on the Joseph O'Brien trained Colfer Me
Quotes from Alan Magee