Solo Performer, right, makes his best way home© Photo Healy Racing
With the going changed to soft before the third flat race at Roscommon, Chris Hayes steered a wide course on Solo Performer (8/1) and it paid dividends as the pair grabbed the Tulsk Handicap.
He faced two challengers on his inside at the business end but saw them both off – Alhellal (10/3) by half a length and Jack Daddy (12/1) by a length and three quarters.
Handler Harry Rogers said of the Dundalk specialist: “The jockey was good again. We said before that he would try to stay on the tracks for better ground and it paid off.
“He did exactly what he had planned before he went out. Solo Performer has been a great servant and we’ll try and find one somewhere else for him.”
Jockey Chris Hayes explained the tactics: “We said beforehand that we would go out and do our own thing as he likes to freewheel.
“I headed for the ambulance tracks. He can’t get it hard enough. When I was trotting down I thought that was best for him.
“Kevin’s horse (Alhellal) headed me in the straight and that helped me as he was doing nothing in front.”
The winner didn’t go unbacked having been 12/1 this morning. Of his 10 previous victories, six were on the polytrack at Dundalk, but he also landed a Bellewstown handicap on soft ground last August. Two other successes at Fairyhouse (September 2011) and Down Royal (September 2009) came with some cut in the ground.
Ulster Derby winner Alhellal was backed at the track on his seasonal reappearance from 9/2 to 10/3, before finishing second. Time For Action the 6/4 favourite, didn’t show his best form today back in sixth.
Bensoon, the morning favourite, was a notable non-runner due to the going.
Additional reporting by Gary Carson
