Jon Jo leaves rivals outfoxed in Galway novice
TRAPRISE
The Ballinaclough kennels of Denis McGrath has always commanded plenty of respect with debut runners, harbouring an impressive strike-rate with pups in the infancy of their careers and extending that winning habit at Galway on Friday.
Young owner Ronan McGrath saw his Foxwood Jon Jo land his semi-final in the Maurice & John Leahy Memorial 525 Yard Stake semi-final, with a hugely taking first race outing.
Breaking just off the pace from Trap 3, the August 2018 whelp did in fact suffer a minor bump in the initial exchanges but quickly gathering himself, he would begin to display superior early dash on the run to the opening bend once in full flight. Negotiating the turns with a one length lead, Foxwood Jon Jo (Droopys Jet/Moanteen Beauty) would begin to edge further clear at the top of the back-straight and had reached his three-length winning margin when passing the halfway point. Maintaining a strong gallop throughout, he would ably defend that same advantage to the line when a comfortable victor in a smart 29.50 (-20).
With the opposing semi-final being won in 30.26 (-20), his closest rival on Friday is likely to again be his main threat come this week’s final but such was the early pace that he displayed on debut, a level break should be all that’s required to convert a winning opportunity while open to any amount of improvement on this debut performance.
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