English/Ire
Inisherin knuckles down to claim Duke Of York honours
Kevin Ryan’s talented sprinter Inisherin returned to action with a gutsy success in the Group 2 The 1895 Duke Of York Clipper Stakes at York on Wednesday.
A blistering winner of the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot last season, Inisherin was sent off the 11/8 market leader as he bid to get back to winning ways after a fifth-place finish in the July Cup and below par effort in the Sprint Cup at Haydock.
With Ryan Moore in the saddle for the first time, the four-year-old found himself poised behind the pace-setting Karl Burke-trained Night Raider, who was looking to stretch the field from the front end under Oisin Murphy.
Night Raider looked to be going strongly passing the halfway point, but his effort quickly petered out on the approach to the final furlong and those in behind appeared on the scene. Moore, who has chosen to keep his mount hard against the rail, drove Inisherin to the front of the pack.
However, Andrew Balding's Flora Of Bermuda quickly emerged with what looked like a winning challenge as she struck the front inside the closing stages, but Inisherin and Ryan Moore weren't to be denied, with the Ballydoyle number galvanising his mount back to the head of affairs under the shadows of the post. The winning distance was a neck.
"There's a bit of relief. We lost a month with him when we realised he had a little bit of a (breathing) issue, and we decided to do it straight away," explained Burke.
"The weather and the ground have meant we haven't been able to get him away for a gallop and things were stacking up against us.
"Thankfully, he's done everything we've asked, he's a big colt now. He'll go straight to Ascot now.
"Night Raider went quick, Ryan was going to jump and be positive, but it probably worked in our favour as he was able to half fill him up and had he gone with him, he might have been beaten two lengths.
"Ryan got it right, as ever. I said to him 'whatever you do is right'."
Inisherin will now head straight to Royal Ascot, where he is a general 8/1 chance to land the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes, although Burke is also keen to support the new seven-furlong Group 1, the City of York Stakes, back on the Knavesmire later on in the season.
Burke added: "He's a strong stayer at six, he ran well in last year's Guineas and I've just said to William Derby, I wouldn't be against stepping him up to seven now it's a Group 1, the City of York, and I'd like to support it.
"Tom (Eaves) had been brilliant on this horse and did nothing wrong, I didn't think he ran too bad in the July Cup and his final run came at the end of a long year, it was just when we discussed this horse we felt if Ryan was available, he'd be able to tell us so much about him as he's ridden so many top horses for so many different people.
"When he comes back in, he tells you straight, there's no going around corners. He'll ride for me whenever he is available.
"It would be nice if he was available at Ascot but today was the first hurdle."
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