Cage Rattler wins for Caffrey and Kinsella

Favouritism at 3/1 in the handicap for older horses over seven furlongs was justified by Cage Rattler.

Tracking the leaders, the chestnut son of National Defence led the way for the first two furlongs under Adam Caffrey. Although he drifted left, the horse maintained a strong pace to defeat Passionate by a length and three quarters, with Manhattan Dandy finishing in third place.

The four-year-old, who finished second at Leopardstown in early April, finished unplaced in a sprint at the Curragh, but he is now the fourth horse from that race to win on its subsequent start. 

“We fancied him the last day in the Curragh, it was a small handicap with a big pot, but it was probably a little bit short for him,” said winning trainer John Kinsella who is based in Rathdrum Co Wicklow.  “He ran well in Leopardstown over seven and he had 12lb off Manhattan Dandy today so we were kind of confident he would reverse the form.  He nearly threw it away by hanging, he's still green and he'll hopefully improve. He's only had six runs and we let him out for a year after his two-year-old run as he was big and immature. He handles a dig in the ground. He's in Killarney on Tuesday and he might go there, we'll see how he comes out of this.”

Cage Rattler was a second Gowran winner in less than 24 hours for the R F ((Richard) O'Brien Racing Syndicate after the success of the Conor Maxwell-trained Play It Again Zaam in Wednesday's nightcap.