Tartan Spartan has Shanahan dreaming big after Listed strike

A horse trained in Kilkenny but a horse who had never been seen on an Irish racecourse before, The Tartan Spartan made the homecoming a sweet one as he landed Her Majesty's Plate - Down Royal's sole Listed race of the season - on Friday evening.

The historic race was being run at Listed level for the second time and attracted a decent field with the four-year-old being the unknown quantity, despite boasting a mark of 102, and the secret is certainly out as he battled and stayed strongly under Ronan Whelan to see off favourite Twilight Payment and front-runner Grandee inside the final furlong.

It is a fact of life Pat Shanahan campaigns his horses mostly in Britain and especially in Scotland, the native of his patron Jimmy Long, but the trainer seems keen to bring The Tartan Spartan the shorter distance to the Curragh next month, joking: "That wasn't bad for his first run in Ireland, even though we're in the UK!"

He added: "He's always been a nice horse, he's a very big horse that we didn't train at two and he won a very good maiden at Thirsk at three. We campaigned him very highly. He ran very well in a big handicap at Musselburgh, won one at Salisbury and was only beaten a length in a Listed race in France last time, so he has been knocking on the door. His next run will probably be in the Irish St Leger and if he goes up another few pounds we might think of the Melbourne Cup."

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