There was just one place to be last week and that was the seven-day racing festival at Listowel which commenced on Sunday September 15th. There was a local-trained winner almost instantly as Clonmel hotelier John Nallen struck with the well-supported Minella For Value in the Cheestrings Beginners Chase over two and a half miles on the opening afternoon.
A bumper winner at Cork in April 2012, Minella For Value atoned for his second-placed effort at Galway four days earlier by leading from two out with reigning champion jockey Davy Russell to contain Flying Light by one and a quarter lengths.
17-year-old Glengoura native Johnny Burke, son of Sir Frederick’s Galway Plate winning handler Liam Burke, continues to make a name for himself and the teenager brought his racecourse tally to eight by landing the closing Kerry Group Flat Race aboard Theos Well. A British-bred that finished second on his debut in a Killarney bumper last year, Theos Well made his initial start for Missunited’s handler Michael Winters a victorious one by leading from under three furlongs out to dismiss Beluckyagain by five and a half lengths. The likelihood is that Theos Well will be now aimed at a flat maiden.
