Joe Masseria, star on cap, wins narrowly from Cheers Again, near side© Photo Healy Racing
Colin Keane had to be at his strongest to drive Joe Masseria up in the Book Tickets At CorkRacecourse.ie Handicap.
This seven-furlong handicap, worth €21,000, looked competitive on paper and a wall of horses held claims across the track at the furlong pole.
Joe Masseria (6/1) burst through under Keane in the closing stages to spring home and nail Cheers Again (16/1) by a short head on the line. Navagio was half a length away in third at 28/1.
This was Joe Masseria's third career victory with the other pair coming over an extended seven furlongs in Naas and over an extended mile at Galway. He was last seen finishing a bit closer than mid-division in the Irish Lincoln at the Curragh last month.
Noel Meade said: "He actually ran a good race in the Lincoln. They went no gallop and I had said to Leigh (Roche) to drop him out and he ended up having too much to do, but it wasn't Leigh's fault, it was my instructions.
"He wants soft ground, he is only a little titch of a horse and is not as big and strong as the fella he is named after. I've recently moved away from cowboys and into gangster names and Joe Masseria was one of the mafia.
"Seven furlongs is his minimum, he needs soft ground so we'll keep tipping along if the ground is easy and he can run in those big handicaps if he gets soft ground."
Additional reporting by Tom Weekes
