LUCIUS COMPLETES UNBEATEN DERBY RUN AT NEWBRIDGE

Ian Fortune

It was very much a case of Déjà vu at Newbridge as Prince Lucius turned close enough to the pace before pouncing late in the final of the Friends of Newbridge A1 Derby.

In doing so, the son of Crash and Limini completed an unbeaten passage through the valuable event.

The race to the turn was very competitive with Russmur Shane just in front of Toolmaker Beach, Only A Number and Prince Lucius, while Mendelson flew up the fence to force his way to the front on the bend.

Passing halfway, Mendelson had a couple of lengths in hand on Russmur Shane but Prince Lucius was in the clear in third and as he had done in each of his previous three outings, the Ollie Bray trained powerhouse flew up the straight to lead late.

Moving second between the last two bends, he stayed wide of Mendelson as they turned for home before devouring the ground in the final fifth yards to assume control. Crossing the line a length and a half to the good over Mendelson in 29.97, he completed an incredible across the card double with Gallant Knight taking the feature at Shelbourne Park. Russmur Shane was just a half length own in third.

It’s clear Ollie Bray’s kennel is in full flight at present and could be worth following in the coming weeks and months.