Njord (second from right, leading)© Photo Healy Racing
Connections of Lady Kaya enjoyed their fair share of luck at Gowran today as the 1,000 Guineas runner-up's stablemate Njord 'got in' as first reserve when winning the Paulstown Handicap for trainer Sheila Lavery and jockey Robbie Colgan.
in the process pocketing the inside draw in 1 before eventually winning the
Will Be King's defection from the race allowed first-reserve Njord his place in the line-up and also take Will Be King's inside draw in 1.
However Njord then handed back that advantage with a slow start but jockey Colgan was alert to the situation and quickly pushed Njord into a mid-division position along the running rail. From there Colgan unleashed his challenge in the home straight and Njord went on to beat Fancy Footsteps by two and a quarter lengths.
Lavery and Colgan teamed up for a memorable near-miss runner-up placing with E12,000 purchase Lady Kaya in last Sunday's 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket and following today's success, the trainer reported “we were delighted to get in (as reserve) and it was another bonus getting the draw.
“What worried Robbie was that he was slow out in Cork and he was slow out here again today but Robbie got a great 'possy' and he was delighted.
“He said he's just a very relaxed horse to ride, you can wake him up and switch him off. He's still green and he got unbalanced and knocked himself there.
“I'll go to the calendar now, see what's there and try and keep creeping up the handicap.
“Hopefully there's more to come. He doesn't so much at home, he's one of those laid back horses and just does what he has to do.
“Until we keep going to the track we're not sure how much more there is there. Robbie said he'd improved a lot since his Cork run and if he just keeps going that way there's a little bit more in him.”
Quotes from Gary Carson
