Loughrea dominates Irish Cambridgeshire

Loughrea (9/2) was an emphatic winner of the Tote Irish Cambridgeshire at the Curragh for the yard, easing to the front in this competitive €100,000 Premier Handicap and pulling away to score by three lengths under Andrew Slattery. The son of Elzaam has improved with every run this season and, off a mark of 91, he relished the step up in grade. Manton Bay (8/1) finished second with Pierre Royal (4/1 favourite) back in third. Andy said: "We thought he was very well handicapped at 91. Sure, you don't know until you try. You only think these things, but they don't always work out. I have him in Champions Weekend in the Northfields, but he'll probably come here for the Concorde now. Dropping him back to seven (furlongs) won't be a problem. He'll be rated 100 anyway, so I suppose handicaps are out. It's only his sixth run. His first run in Leopardstown last year, he was as green as grass. I only had him about two months. John was doing him himself at home and sent him on. He just done nothing but improve. He only won by half-a-length at Leopardstown the last day, but he could have won four. It was a comfortable half-length, an easy watch." (Quotes from John O'Riordan)