An eight race card at Leopardstown on Sunday will decide the destination of this year's Irish Flat jockeys championship after Michael Kinane and John Murtagh left Thurles yesterday afternoon locked together on the 76 winner mark.
Murtagh started the day one behind his great rival but was soon in front after landing both divisions of the two-year-old median auction maiden aboard Zimbabwe and Hard Shoulder.
The two leading riders fought out the finish in the opener, with Zimbabwe heading Nopekan a furlong out to score by a workmanlike length and a half. 'He stays well, and should make a nice handicapper over 12 furlongs plus next season,' said successful trainer John Oxx's assistant Jimmy O'Neill.
Murtagh was aboard 1/2 favourite Hard Shoulder half-an-hour later, and Noel Meade's charge was prominent throughout before drawing clear in the final furlong to beat Sarobar by four and a half lengths. 'I've always thought alot of him, but he kept running into some of the best two-year-olds around. He's a big, leggy gelding, and should improve next year,' said Meade.
However Kinane, who completed the final leg of his long trip back from Melbourne by helicopter to the Co. Tipperary track, was back on level terms when giving Yukon a typically strong ride to land the mile and a half handicap. 'He's not a ride for an apprentice,' said trainer Paddy Mullins with a playful glint in his eye before confirming that the winner will go back over hurdles.
Kinane is 4/7 with Cashmans to win a 12th championship with Murtagh at 5/4, while Ladbrokes go 4/9 Kinane and 13/8 Murtagh. Aidan O'Brien is expected to supply Kinane with a number of fancied two-year-old mounts at Leopardstown.
The National Hunt section of the card provided a series of exciting finishes, notably the opportunity handicap hurdle in which the Mark Grant-ridden Annshoon touched off Goodonyou-Polly in the final stride.
Alan Magee
