'He's been a very lucky horse for us' - Ger Lyons hails back-to-form Mutasarref after Leopardstown success

Ger Lyons would not have been alone when he thought that his chance of winning the Bahrain Turf Club Knockaire Stakes had disappeared when he was forced to withdraw renowned mudlark Power Under Me due to a temperature.

Step forward stablemate Mutasarref under Colin Keane, who earned his sixth career success and first this season as he prevailed by a battling neck from the somewhat unlucky runner-up Honey Girl, leaving the winning trainer very pleased but scratching his head at the same time.

He said: "I genuinely was only running him because his owner Eleanora Kennedy was over for a function this weekend! He has been on the wane all year, but he is still a class horse. The ease in the ground just helps his old injuries and his old bones.

"He has just been a very lucky horse for us since the day we got him. I just thought we were on the road to dropping him down the handicap, however long that took; that's undone now. But you don't mind when they win. They went no gallop and it just played into his hands. On his day, he is still a good horse."

Bolger a legend once more
It has been a quiet enough season for Jim Bolger, but the veteran trainer showed that he is still capable of getting one ready for the big day as Eastern Legend ran out a very convincing winner of the concluding Dublin To Bahrain October Handicap.

The three-year-old son of Teofilo was sent to the front by Rory Cleary before the straight and galloped on resolutely in the last furlong or so to see off a very competitive field by upwards of two and a quarter lengths, adding this premier handicap to his two previous wins earlier in the campaign.

He is entered in the sales next month, and Bolger was keen to emphasise that he is a horse that the jumps fraternity will be interested in. "Will he win the Triumph Hurdle? That will be his job," he quipped, adding: "We'll see how he is tomorrow. If he is okay he will go to the sales. He has been a good, solid horse all season but that was his best. He goes on any ground. He has Triumph Hurdle written all over him!"

Boogie calls the tune
The final stakes race of the season at Leopardstown, the Listed Trigo Stakes, was a first win in the grade for the Ballydoyle filly Boogie Woogie, who held off habitual runner-up Sunchart by three-parts of a length under Seamie Heffernan with a bit in hand.

"She has promised a lot all year but things just haven't gone right for her at times," said stable representative Chris Armstrong.

"It's great to get the Listed win with a filly with plenty of ability. Seamie said she didn't really like the ground but that her class got her through. There is no decision made whether she stays in training next year."

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