Dead slow hat-trick: patience rewarded as Dead Right finally notches third win

Sadio Mane needed less than three minutes to net the Premier League's fastest hat-trick for Southampton against Aston Villa in 2015 but for the Neil Mulholland-trained Dead Right scoring three times in a row has taken significantly longer.

The JP McManus-owned seven-year-old defied a 317-day break to gain a third consecutive win at Sedgefield on Friday, completing a dead slow hat-trick initiated at the 2017 Punchestown festival almost two years earlier.

Ridden that day by Jonjo O’Neill jnr, claiming what has now proved a valuable 7lb, Dead Right defeated subsequent dual Grade 1-winning hurdler Next Destination in a bumper, but 391 days then passed before a novice hurdle triumph at Warwick.

While rattling off a quickfire hat-trick can raise spirits in the short-term, Neil Mulholland and JP McManus have enjoyed the same feat with Dead Right but over three different years.

The hat-trick haul

April 27, 2017 Punchestown festival – bumper

May 23, 2018 Warwick – novice hurdle

April 5, 2019 Sedgefield – novice hurdle

The seven-year-old defied his latest layoff in ready fashion, travelling strongly before powering clear after the last under Aidan Coleman, with Mulholland delighted with the performance.

Mulholland, who is likely to run Carole’s Destrier and Impulsive Star in the Coral Scottish Grand National at Ayr on Saturday, is hoping a four-timer bid will not be taking place in 2020.

He said: "Dead Right has had a few niggly problems in the past couple of seasons, but nothing major and he’s a nice horse.

"He did it very well at Sedgefield in beating a 127-rated horse and you need to be a good horse to do that after a year off.

"We were very happy with him and hopefully we won’t have to wait another year to run him again!"

Dead Right: won impressively at Sedgefield on FridayCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

The seven-year-old could be set for a novice chase campaign next season and the early signs of a recovery are positive.

Mulholland said: "He seems to have come out of the race fine – he’s only walking and trotting but we’ll see how he is in the next couple of weeks, then make a plan.

"We could run him again over hurdles but I’d have thought he’ll be going novice chasing next season."

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