chased leaders in 2nd/3rd, ridden in 2nd halfway, wandered slightly left under 1f out, no impression on winner final furlong
made all, ridden clear 1 1/2f out, stayed on well final furlong, easily
chased leaders in 4th, ridden from halfway, disputed moderate 3rd over 1f out, went 3rd close home
chased leaders in 3rd/4th, ridden halfway, disputing 3rd over 1f out, lost 3rd close home
chased leaders in 2nd/3rd, ridden and no impression from over 2f out, eased final furlong
held up in last, ridden from halfway, no impression over 1f out
Tommy Stack's team were in unstoppable form in the opening weeks of the turf season and HIGH AWARD became the first winner of the campaign which kicked off at the Curragh. The well-connected son of Holy Roman Emperor had today's rival Lightening Thief five lengths back in second and though 5lbs worse off should have little difficulty confirming the form. Mr Man In The Moon ran very green when third behind Mr Mojito at Tipperary and will no doubt have come on for the experience as will Lake Wanaka and Proper Madam, though both were a long way behind So Stylish at Navan on Sunday. Mick Halford's newcomer The Munster Maori will do well to stay up with the pace against these experienced rivals.
High Award (IRE) 9-2 (9-3) Tracked leaders on outer, 4th halfway, improved to challenge under 1 1/2f out, led inside final furlong, ran on well, won at Curragh 5f 2yo mdn sft in Mar beating Suntan (9-3) by 3/4l, 11 ran.
Lightening Thief (IRE) 16-1 (9-3) Led, headed over 1f out, kept on one pace but no chance with winner, 2nd of 7, 5l behind Head Space (9-3) at Naas 5f 2yo mdn gd.
Mr Man In The Moon (IRE) 16-1 (9-0) Soon prominent, 3rd from halfway, no impression from over 1f out, ran green, 3rd of 6, 5l behind Mr Mojito (9-3) at Tipperary 5f 2yo mdn.
The Munster Maori (IRE) Footstepsinthesand gelding out of Kilmore Princess.
Lake Wanaka (IRE) 9-2 (9-0) Chased leaders, ridden and weakened from 2f out, 10th of 11, 11l behind So Stylish (9-0) at Navan 5f 2yo fll mdn gf.
Proper Madam (IRE) 33-1 (8-7) Towards rear, no impression from halfway, 9th of 11, 10l behind So Stylish (9-0) at Navan 5f 2yo fll mdn gf.