Lucca and Ronan Whelan beating High Expectations (right)© Photo Healy Racing
The Fahey brothers have been sending out winners on a consistent basis all year, and this time it was Jarlath who did his bit for the Monasterevin family as Lucca made it three wins in just over two months in the Like Navan On Facebook Handicap. High Expectations looked set to justify 3/1 favouritism when going clear under two furlongs out but Ronan Whelan’s mount dug deep in the closing stages to get up in the final strides at odds of 7/1.
A neck separated the pair at the line, with Nightly Wailing a length and three quarters back in third and Rubenesque in fourth.
Fahey said, “Ronan thought the last day he got trapped in a little bit and he was still competitive off his mark. He gave him a great ride to win it. At places in the race we thought we were going nowhere but he stuck it out well. He’s a good old battler and he stuck his head out all the way to the line.
“We will probably bring him to Listowel for a 50-80 handicap over a mile and a half if the ground is anyway in his favour. The easy side of good seems to really suit him.”
