Value At Risk wins Fairyhouse Grade 2 contest.
Dan Skelton’s foray to Ireland with the Kayf Tara gelding Value At Risk proved to be a fruitful one when the seven-year-old landed the Grade 2 Keelings Irish Strawberry Hurdle on the Irish Grand National undercard at Fairyhouse.
Ridden by the trainer’s brother Harry, Value At Risk took up the running midway through the two-and-a-half-mile contest and looked game when pressed for the lead two from home, maintaining his advantage to win by a length and a half from the Aidan O’Brien-trained Marchese Marconi.
Bred by his owner, Mark Huglin, Value At Risk was unsold at €26,000 as a three-year-old at the Derby Sale but is now a three-time winner. He was also third to the smart pair of Shaneshill and Silver Concorde in the G1 Champion Bumper at the Punchestown Festival.
Closer to home, Don Poli’s three-parts brother by Kayf Tara, named Debece, won the Market Rasen bumper for trainer Tim Vaughan and owner Robert Kirkland. Bred by Brian Griffiths and John Nicholson, the five-year-old’s dam Dalamine has produced a full-sister to him this season at Rahinston Farm in Ireland.
At Fakenham, Kayf Grace brought up the Easter Monday trouble by cantering around to win the bumper by an extraordinarily easy 53 lengths for owner-breeders James and Jean Potter. Her dam Potter’s Gale is a multiple winner over hurdles and fences and is a half-sister to the mighty Denman.
The three winners have helped to edge Kayf Tara’s progeny earnings for the season tantalisingly close to the £2 million barrier, with 95 winners of 145 races at a strike-rate of 32 per cent.
