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Michael Graham

Michael Graham

Greenlands suits Hitchens nicely

Sat 25th May 2013, 15:12

Hitchens, near side, wins by a neck at the CurraghHitchens, near side, wins by a neck at the Curragh
© Photo Healy Racing

Hitchens (13/2) enjoys his outings in the six furlong Group 3 Greenlands Stakes at the Curragh and he delivered again when getting a lovely run through under Johnny Murtagh.

David Barron’s eight-year-old won this race in 2011 and was fourth in it last year. This result made it five English-trained successes in a row in the Greenlands.

Murtagh raced just off the pace and when Jimmy Styles started to fade a gap opened for Hitchens and he powered through it to score by a neck from Reply (11/1).

Johnny Murtagh said: “He quickened through them well. I thought I was always going to win. The last few strides he kind of died a bit.

“The owners are very happy. He didn’t like it in Newmarket on firm ground down the hill [seventh on May 5], but the ground was lovely today.”

Joint-owner Laurence O’Kane added: “That was a tremendous ride by Johnny. How professional was that from a man about to have his first runner as a trainer?”

With joint top-weight Maarek being taken out this morning due to a stone bruise, punters piled into Eddie Lynam’s Slade Power down to 10/3 favouritism on the off.

On his first run for 217 days, the four-year-old colt kept on well into third, half a length in arrears of the battle for first.

Additional reporting by Gary Carson

1st
13/2
Tote €5.90 €1.60
2nd
nk
11/1
€4.80
3rd
0.5L
10/3Fav
€2.60
4th
0.5L
14/1
About Michael Graham
Michael has worked in horse racing journalism for more than 15 years, having also written a weekly betting column on Gaelic football and hurling for a newspaper. He is involved in writing the My Racing Story features on this website. He spent a year in South Africa completing a Diploma in Business Administration and also studied Newspaper Journalism in Belfast. He enjoys playing 5-a-side football on a regular basis.