Torrential rain transformed the concluding day of the Killarney May meeting into a miserable place yesterday but for Curragh trainer Michael Grassick it proved a bright and profitable afternoon with a 47-1 double and in stark contrast a bitter blow for Robert Tyner and amateur rider Mark Grant.
Tyner's charge Fernhill Queen past the post in front in the Hunters Chase but minutes later when weighing-in before clerk of the scales Joe Banahan, the Fethard amateur weighed-in 1.2lbs light and was subsequently disqualified.
Under the rules, riders are allowed to weigh in up to one pound light but for the sole Jackpot ticket holder of Fernhill Queen which would have yielded a tidy dividend of #3,766.10, it will be a day to forget forever.
Disappointed trainer Robert Tyner said, 'Mark (Grant) can't explain. There was no lead in the lead cloth - we lost no weight. We've lost the race because we were .2 of a pound out.'
The contest was awarded to Mister Softie, trained by Tony Martin and ridden by Davy Russell, and resulted in three very fortunate winners of the Jackpot worth #1,255.30 each.
Fresh from his Leopardstown weekend success with stable-star and Irish 1,000 Guineas-bound Preseli, Grassick set the ball rolling in the Derrinstown Stud Apprentice Claiming Race when Pettite Ville obliged to provide sixteen-year-old Eddie Creighton, who hails from Asbourne, with his first victory in the plate.
Half-an-hour later it was the turn of stable-jockey Eddie Ahern to team up with the blinkered Carol's Chapel to scoop the Michael Lynch Handicap and bring the Grassick tally to three for the current campaign.
'This filly broke her pelvis at Roscommon when racing as a two-year-old and is very lucky to be alive. Her owners have been very patient and I'm delighthed that she has put her head in front,' said Grassick.
Elsewhere, Cork trainer Louis Archdeacon (28), who has held a licence for over three years, opened his account when Sharon's Touch and Damian Murphy landed the opener while fellow countyman, permit holder Gerard O'Keeffe, also found the winners enclosure after the handicap chase when Paul Carberry teamed up with Donickmore.
