Kodiac Prince gets up close home under Rory Cleary © Photo Healy Racing
Kodiac Prince stayed on best of all to grind out a hard earned victory in the closing Tote Guarantee On All Win Bets Handicap at Naas.
Daniel King set the early fractions aboard Church Mountain with Mulgrave tracking the leader in the initial stages. The latter challenged early in the straight but could never quite get to the front runner.
As Mulgrave dropped away, Eighty Eight arrived with what appeared to be a decisive challenge under Danny Sheehy. However, no sooner had he got his head in front then he was mowed down by the fast finishing Kodiac Prince.
Jockey Rory Cleary needed to be at his strongest to get the five-year-old up in the shadow of the post to deny the brave runner-up.
“That was nice. We were a bit disappointed with the run in Galway but he got hampered at the wrong time there when a horse bumped into him at the bottom of the hill,” said trainer Tom Cleary.
“Luckily enough I had him declared for here and we were very happy with him the next morning when we gave him a bit of a canter. He was very well in himself and we were very happy to come here with him.
“He's entered for Tipperary on Friday and if we get a bit of cut in the ground and everything is okay we might go there.
“We've been looking for a cut in the ground all year. The last few times he ran well, finishing fourth, he continued to be dropped a few pounds.
“Unless it's a three-year-old it is hard to get a horse rated between 65 and 73 into races. We've been struggling to get into a race with him.”
Additional reporting by Gary Carson
