EXILE DOMINANT IN FAIR WARRIOR

Ian Fortune

Conditions may have been wet and windy at Mullingar on Sunday afternoon but Road Exile and Manalishi Jet didn’t seem to mind as they emerged as good winners in the semi-finals of the Droopys Stud Fair Warrior Open 400.

Road Exile was a red-hot favourite for the opening heat and the Pat Buckley trained star produced a near-flawless display. Flashing from four, the son of Droopys Sydney and Trusted Exile was in charge from the opening strides.

Born Racer didn’t fly from traps but did pace up well to move second into the bend but she was never going to land a glove on the leader. Road Exile would eventually go on to see off Born Racer by two lengths in 21.21. Killeshil Ranger stayed on well to grab third on the line, a further six lengths adrift.

JET LOVING LIFE IN THE STRIPES

The second heat was a less straightforward affair.

Fastest second round winner and defending champ Pavilion Fire broke smartly from three but was left short of room with Scarborough Fair and Zippy Canning going up well on his flanks.

With the latter cutting inwards into the turn, the door was closed on Pavilion Fire, while a number of those drawn towards the inner were left short of room. In contrast, James Kerr’s Manalishi Jet had room to maneouvre on the outside of the track and he floated around his rivals to take charge. Once doing so, he eased on to beat Zippy Canning by two and a half lengths in 21.50 with another length and a half to Scarborough Fair.   

Droopys Stud Fair Warrior

Final draw

1 BORN RACER

2 SCARBOROUGH FAIR

3 ROAD EXILE (M)

4 ZIPPY CANING (M)

5 KILLESHIL RANGER (W)

6 MANALISHI JET (W)