Princeton Plains and Fran Berry defeat Vastonea© Photo Healy Racing
The J.P. McManus owned Princeton Plains landed a sustained gamble (opened 10/1 in the morning and 7/2 on track) to justify 3/1 favouritism when winning the Today FM Handicap at The Curragh this evening for trainer Eddie Harty and jockey Fran Berry. The son of Tagula raced in mid-division before making headway three furlong out. The winner eventually moved to the front a furlong out and stayed on well to comfortably defeat Vastonea by a length and a quarter. Harty later stated “ I was a bit disappointed with him at Roscommon and maybe dropping him back in trip and the softer ground made the difference today. “We'll look for something similar next and we'll stick to the Flat for the moment - he'll probably mix it with hurdles later in the year. “It's nice to have a winner on the Flat for Mr McManus and Princeton Plains' half-brother Baron De'l ran a cracker earlier (third in the Premier Handicap).”
