The champagne is waiting in the ice until tomorrow at least as Charlie Swan's bid to ride his 1,000th winner over jumps was foiled at Cork yesterday.
Greenflag Princess started the 11 to 10 favourite to give the eight times champion his landmark victory in the Good Thyne Handicap Chase but she couldn't resist the late challenge of the 16 to 1 shot Leamhog and Swan had to settle for a six-length runner up spot.
In truth, the writing was on the wall down the back straight. With stamina worries about Greenflag Princess over three miles, the last thing Swan wanted was to be taken on for the lead but that's what the lightweight Pharalley did.
Pharalley took over the pace at the 10th fence and really stretched them. Swan, trying to conserve the mare's energy, was still motionless in the plate before the turn in but although she led at the third last, she had nothing left to resist Leamhog, patiently ridden by Sean O'Donovan, when he joined her at the next.
Now, Swan will be hoping to get off the 999 mark at the Punchestown festival and has plenty of ammunition to do so in front of the huge crowds.
"At the moment I've got Like A Lion and Go Go Gallant on the first day and I'm booked for six rides on the two other days," Swan said.
The Quartertown Handicap turned into a double edged sword for Pat Shanahan who got Blue Stocking up to beat the favourite Tarry Flynn but then received a two-day ban for using his whip excessively.
Shanahan's view that Blue Stocking was never really travelling and responded to pressure looked accurate considering he was scrubbing the filly along well before the straight. To her credit Blue Stocking kept going admirably and repeated her Leopardstown defeat of Tarry Flynn. Andrew Kelly on the fifth Gaultier Gale also got a one-day ban for the whip in the race.
The newcomer Show Me The Money did indeed show her owner Liam Queally the money when smoothly winning the five furlong maiden. The Noel Meade-trained filly gave Queally his first winner in 10 years of racing ownership. "She has plenty of boot and will go for the Marble Hill," said Meade.
The well-backed Valentine Waltz could only finish fourth in that but Aidan O'Brien did take the Ford Maiden with Desert Fox and English owner Francis Walton saw his first racehorse, Decanter, win the novices chase from the warm favourite Jensalee.
Richard Dunwoody reached a record 100 winners for the ninth consecutive season with a typically polished display on Samanid in the Ron Sims Heating & Electrical Handicap Hurdle at Worcester on Saturday evening.
He has now beaten the record of eight career centuries set by Peter Scudamore.
Dunwoody was always travelling comfortably on the Lynn Siddall-trained six-year-old and, after leading approaching the last, the rider kept the 7-4 favourite up to his work to draw two lengths clear of Noble Lord.
A delighted Dunwoody said: "It means a lot to me to get this century as it is a record. How long it will last with Tony McCoy banging in the winners like he is I just don't know.
"It's been another good season for me and I'm now looking forward to a number of good rides at the Punchestown Festival next week.
"My next milestone is to pass Scu's record of 1677 career winners. I'm just over a hundred behind him at the moment and if I stay in one piece next season I'm hoping to pass that."
