LEOPARDSTOWN // On a day that was billed as 'Sunday Muddy Sunday' after much of racing in Europe was affected by the weekend's deluge, the trainer Jim Bolger and jockey Kevin Manning lit up the whole of Ireland with a Group 1 double on the Leopardstown card. The outstanding Coolmore sire Galileo had a significant sway over proceedings as both New Approach, who prevailed in the Irish Champion Stakes, and Lush Lashes, who won the Matron Stakes 70 minutes earlier, share the multiple Derby winner as their sire.
Much of the gloss was taken from the Champion Stakes yesterday morning, however, when Aidan O'Brien's Duke Of Marmalade was pulled from the race due to unsuitable going, a move which had been teed-up on Saturday night when the jockey Johnny Murtagh was sent to France to ride Henrythenavigator in the Group 1 Prix du Moulin at Longchamp. And it was a good thing that Duke Of Marmalade wasn't there either, as it was a workman-like victory for New Approach in the 1m2f feature.
Manning sat in second behind the pacemaker Red Rock Canyon for much of the race, but once the field swung into the straight, Manning pressed the button and let the Princess Haya-owned colt go on his way. A late rally from John Egan and Traffic Guard in the final 200 yards seemed likely to consign New Approach to a similar defeat to his sire in the same race seven years ago, but Bolger had won this contest in 1986 with Park Express, the dame of New Approach, and perhaps it was that influence that saw him home.
Lush Lashes got her own back on her Goodwood conqueror, Halfway to Heaven, when winning the Matron Stakes. The tough-as-teak filly couldn't find an opening in the traffic in the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood last month, but there was no such danger yesterday. In contrast to the strategy in Nassau, Manning settled the Coronation Cup winner in second behind the jockey Ted Durcan, who rode Lady Gloria. That order was not to change until they entered the straight, when Manning kicked his filly for home. Given her illustrious sire, it was never in doubt whether Lush Lashes would have the stamina to keep up her relentless gallop to the line, but she was harried in the final furlong by Nahoodh, owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed.
Although seven of the last eight Matron winners had been British-based raiders, Nahoodh, trained by Mark Johnston, couldn't quite land a telling blow, and Lush Lashes prevailed by a head. Halfway To Heaven, trained by O'Brien, finished third. Things did not get much better for O'Brien either, as Henrythenavigator suffered his first defeat of the season at the Prix du Moulin in France. It had been mooted that the three-year-old son of Kingmambo might struggle due to his high draw, but it was a mixture of the easy going, and an overly patient ride from Murtagh which contributed towards his fifth-placed finish behind Goldikova, trained by Freddie Head.
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