John O’Shea has capped off a brilliant day at Randwick, with his two horses, Kirwan’s Lane and Lion’s Roar running the quinella in the Group 2 The Ingham producing a minor upset in the feature event of the day.
After winning the Inglis Nursery with Saltaire earlier in the day, O’Shea and his team have taken out both feature events on The Ingham Day.
There was plenty of speed in The Ingham, with the market favourite, Riodini and Wild Planet taking up the lead before they punctured early in the straight, which set it up for Kirwan’s Lane and Lion’s Roar to swoop down the outside and fight out the finish.
The winner jumped at a massive $23 with online bookmakers, while the runner-up was $51 chance, so anyone that landed any of the multiples will have been well rewarded.
The Ingham Replay – Kirwan’s Lane
John O’Shea once again spoke post-race after another feature win.
“It was a perfect ride from Brenton (Avdulla),” O’Shea said.
“We were so happy with him coming into the race, but I just felt the 57 (kilograms) was gonna be a bit much for him.
“That was the only issue I had with him.
“And we knew that Lion’s (Roar) was ready to run a big race, so we’re really happy with all the runs.”
Brenton Avdulla has continued his hot run of form to end the year with another double at Randwick, including the $2 million feature.
“You know, I missed this time of the year last year through injury and obviously the autumn was very special to me,” Avdulla explained post-race.
“To turn up today on grand final day with this horse, he executed everything really well and John (O’Shea) prepared him tremendously and I’m glad to get another Randwick mile with him.”
Avdulla ended his interview with a little insight into how his and O’Shea’s relationship works and that they are both big supporters of one-another.
“Yeah, he’s one of my faves for sure. He’s harsh but fair and he doesn’t really need to let you know when you’ve stuffed up.”
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