Melanippe follows up on Tramore victory Melanippe (5/1) followed up on her recent win at Tramore, as she took the Ratoath Handicap under Chris Hayes for trainer Paul Deegan. The three-year-old daughter of Shirocco eased to a seventh length success at Tramore and she was given nine pounds by the handicapper for that victory. Given a more patient ride this evening she was sixth at the halfway stage and was ridden into third a furlong out. She kept on best in the closing stages to edge ahead, going on to score by half a length from the front-running House Limit in second under Ben Curtis for John Larkin at 8/1. Hat-trick seeking Hurricane Sky was sent off the 9/4 favourite under Fran Berry for Charles O’Brien and he kept on into third, while Time Travel was a length back in fourth under Rory Cleary for Damian English at 12/1. Paul Coyle, assistant to Paul Deegan, said afterwards: "I thought she was up against it being a three-year-old against older horses, but she is a very tough, handy, little filly. "The ground was firm in Tramore and it was probably yielding (officially yielding to soft after this race) here tonight so it doesn’t make too much difference to her." After the race the stewards gave Ben Curtis a three day ban for using his whip with excessive frequency aboard the runner-up House Limit. They also gave Shane Kelly a one day ban for using his whip with his arm above shoulder height on Midsomer Mist, who finished down the field. Additional reporting by Alan Magee
