RACING/Curragh report: Michael Kinane got off to a flier on the opening day of the Flat season at the Curragh yesterday with a treble that included a dramatic victory on Atlantic Rhapsody in the Betdaq Lincolnshire.
But even the multi-champion jockey had to give best winner-wise to trainer John Oxx who confirmed the fitness of his horses with a remarkable four-timer.
Oxx supplied the well-bred Barring Order to upset the 4 to 9 hot pot Century City in the Listed Loughbrown Stakes and the filly will be after more black type next time in the Athasi Stakes.
"She's a half-sister to Beckett (National Stakes) so it's great to win a Listed with her. We've had enough good ground to get her ready although the going was a worry today," Oxx said.
The rest of the country's trainers will be looking enviously at Oxx's gallops after Tarifana (who completed 4,724 to 1 four-timer for the Curragh trainer) and Egyptian won for second jockey Fran Berry but quite what punters made of Chartres's winning debut is more debatable.
Calorando was meant to be best of the Oxx quartet in the seven-furlong maiden but was run out of first place by the giant Chartres who won for Catherine Gannon.
"I didn't think she'd done enough work to win," admitted Oxx, who added: "Things can only go downhill now!"
Uncle Dick in 1982 was Mick Kinane's only previous Lincolnshire success but the 20-year gap had no impact on the nine-times champion jockey's nerve.
Soon after the start, Atlantic Rhapsody was last of the 23 runners but favourite backers in the 6,000-strong crowd had the consolation of their rider's confidence.
"I was last at the six-furlong pole but the plan was to bury him and the further he went, the better he liked it," said Kinane.
Nevertheless, Atlantic Rhapsody, a former inmate of the Mark Johnston yard in Britain, veered sharply to his left before hitting the front and Kinane had to quickly straighten him up before beating Private Ben.
"He has loads of ability but he thinks about it a bit," said trainer Ted Walsh who won two hurdle races during the winter with the horse. Atlantic Rhapsody will possibly go for the handicap hurdle at Fairyhouse next week.
Kinane's other winners came from the more familiar Ballydoyle pipeline and they included the $2.5 million Tomahwak who easily took the opening race of the season.
"A lovely colt," was Aidan O'Brien's verdict on the son of Seattle Slew and the same quote fitted the odds-on Maderno in the three-year-old maiden.
The full-brother to the champion juvenile Fasliyev was in a pretty unpromising position at half way but quickened up to beat Lady Barbara by three-parts of a length.
Kinane was cautioned about keeping a straight line after Mahsusie just lost out in the handicap sprint to the Tommy Stack-trained Serov.
Stack was fined €200 for delaying the start by allowing Serov to trot to post but nothing could spoil the day for Limerick-born rider Rory Moore who picked up his first success on the winner.
