JP McManus has failed to win a race in which he owned six of the eight horses in action this evening.
The Limerick native had A Wave Of The Sea, Band Of Outlaws, Darasso, Hearts Are Trumps, Magic Tricks, Modus and Winter Escape in the 5.15 race at Tipperary.
Named the Kevin McManus Bookmaker Grimes Hurdle as the mogul sponsors the race, McManus lost Magic Tricks as a non-runner, meaning he had six of the eight runners in the race.
But all six came up short this evening as Sole Pretender took the top prize, with Paul Townend denying McManus victory on board the Norman Lee trained 5/4 favourite.
His racing manager Frank Berry explained it was an obvious race for the team to support.
“They do a good job with the watering at Tipperary and the boss sponsors the race – it’s nice to be able to support it,” he said.
Berry went through the contenders starting with the first-three named, who are all trained Joseph O’Brien.
“A Wave Of The Sea had a little break and Joseph says he’s in good form so we’ll see how he runs,” he said.
“Band Of Outlaws has had a long break and has had plenty of problems in the meantime. He ran nicely on his comeback on the Flat so hopefully he’ll come on again and run well.
“Darasso has found his form again. He was going through a bad spell, running disappointingly, but he won nicely in Killarney and put up a good performance in a chase at Listowel so hopefully he’ll be very competitive.”
