Saturday 18th October 2008
Bolger bags third straight Darley Dewhurst
INTENSE Focus (purple and white cap) emerged victorious from a titanic battle with Lord Shanakill and Finjaan to land a third consecutive Darley Dewhurst Stakes for trainer Jim Bolger.
From a furlong out, all 13 runners were at full cry with a line of six all in with a chance of landing the spoils.
But it was Kevin Manning on board 20/1 chance Intense Focus who managed to the just repel the challenge of Lord Shanakill.
After a lengthy wait for the photo to be examined, it was confirmed that Bolger’s charge had prevailed by a nose at odds of 20/1 with a further nose back to Finjaan.
Bolger said: “We were hoping he would be in the three as he had ran well at Longchamp (in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagerdere). He has good speed and battling qualities.
“He needs fast ground so we will avoid running him on soft in the future. Hopefully he will come back here for the Stan James 2000 Guineas.”
From a furlong out, all 13 runners were at full cry with a line of six all in with a chance of landing the spoils.
But it was Kevin Manning on board 20/1 chance Intense Focus who managed to the just repel the challenge of Lord Shanakill.
After a lengthy wait for the photo to be examined, it was confirmed that Bolger’s charge had prevailed by a nose at odds of 20/1 with a further nose back to Finjaan.
Bolger said: “We were hoping he would be in the three as he had ran well at Longchamp (in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagerdere). He has good speed and battling qualities.
“He needs fast ground so we will avoid running him on soft in the future. Hopefully he will come back here for the Stan James 2000 Guineas.”
