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Michael Graham

Michael Graham

'Lovely ground' suits Raydari well

Tue 9th Jul 2013, 19:51

Raydari soars over the last at RoscommonRaydari soars over the last at Roscommon
© Photo Healy Racing

French-bred Raydari fairly bounced off the quick turf at Roscommon when winning Division 1 of the Pyramid Bookmakers Handicap at Roscommon over two miles.

It looked merely a matter of when the 9/4 joint favourite would overtake front-running Countess Salome and when Andrew Lynch pressed the button at the second last away the pair went. A Word Apart in the first-time hood, stayed on well for second under Barry Cash. This was a step up on the four ‘duck eggs’ most recently to his name. The 14/1 shot closed to within two and a quarter lengths at the winning post.

Trainer Rodger Sweeney has eyes for bigger prizes as he said: “He’ll go to Galway next for another handicap. The ground is a credit to Roscommon here today. It’s lovely and safe.”

Each way punters received returns from their investments on Countess Salome in third at 16/1 and fourth-placed Jack The Hat (8/1).

Raydari is a triple winner on the polytrack at Dundalk, but this was his first jumps success.

The other 9/4 joint favourite was Aranhill Chief who could make no headway from the third-last flight and had to settle for eighth place.

Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes

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.