Curragh review | Results and reports for the pick of the action on Irish Lincolnshire day

Cut is perfect for Ribee

Ribee (20/1) made light of the testing conditions as he dished out a beating to his rivals in the Nua Healthcare Irish Lincolnshire to leave the layers laughing with the SPs of the placed horses 11/1, 16/1 and 28/1.

Michael Mulvany saddled Ribee to win three of his last five races in 2025 as the Ribchester gelding enjoyed the more testing conditions that the autumn threw up and he finished third in the other two.

The improvement started with the fitting of a tongue tie and he won with that aide off a rating of 62 on the first of October and Ribee will soon be rated in the 90s having made light of his current mark of 89 in the prestigious premier handicap under Declan McDonogh.

Mulvany told Racing TV: "It was an easy watch until the last 100 yards and I was just getting worried whether he was getting tired but from a furlong and a half down I was kind of very confident. He was travelling all the way and when you get those conditions, he loves them.

"He's a big strong horse and he's well able to carry the weight in them conditions. We'll have to see where we go with him now but that was the plan since last year's backend. It's lovely when a plan comes together.

"We went to Galway last year thinking he couldn't get beat and we came back scratching our heads. It was only when we put a tongue tie on him - he was getting his tongue over the bit - and he was a different horse from then on. He finished off the season in rattling form.

"Declan has been very lucky for us, he's a 'go to' jockey.

"You can't be champion of this country without being a real good jockey. Declan McDonogh didn't go away, he's still there and he's still a top-class jockey, there's none better than him in the finish but hopefully he didn't have to work too hard today."

Ruler takes Control

Amo Racing had won the last three renewals of the Topgear At Capital Stud Irish EBF Maiden and the market strongly suggested that Force Noir would follow suit as he was backed into 5/6 favouritism.

Force Noir may still be a name to remember given the three winners were Power Blue, Arizona Blaze and Bucanero Fuerte but the Persian Force colt had to play second fiddle to Ruler's Control (15/2) who scored for Jack Foley and Luke McAteer.

On a blustery day in testing ground, the pair pulled three and a quarter lengths clear of the remainder and were only parted by a head.

The victory came as no surprise to Foley who told Racing TV: "He's a horse we thought plenty of coming here today. He's done that well, he's travelled well and got a bit lonely in front but you wouldn't knock him, it's a big old place here.

"He hasn't been away a whole lot but we were mad keen to come here. We expected a good show out of him but thought he'd improve plenty for what he'd done as he would have lacked a bit of experience but thank god he done what he was showing us.

"This race throws up a good horse and we thought we had one coming here today. It's a great start to the flat season.

"He will be for sale but as Donnchadh [Doyle, owner] said if we don't move him, we'll see where we can go and hopefully we can dream with this lad, we do think enough of him."

Ruler's Control was a first winner at the Curragh for Foley.

A new Dawn for O'Callaghan

The market got it right in the as Breaking Dawn (2/1 favourite) scored under Colin Keane in the Nua CLaD Hub Irish EBF Maiden over six furlongs.

Breaking Dawn had finished fourth in a couple of useful maidens at Naas as a juvenile and was fitted with cheekpieces for his return, winning comfortably to the delight of trainer Michael O'Callaghan.

"It was straightforward," he said.

"Delighted with the horse, he's progressed well over the winter. Seven furlongs is probably his trip and Colin said you would want a seven furlong horse to win there today over six but he did feel that he'd strengthened up plenty over the winter.

"He could come out quickly and could run in the Madrid next weekend but we'll see how he is; he's a nice horse and he gives us a nice gauge and settles everything down. It's nice to have our first runner of the new season to go and win well.

"We've a nice bunch of three-year-olds, we bought a different type of breezer last year, more of a one run, put them away and this is one of those. Plenty of nice horses, we're full and building more boxes so hopefully we can keep this run going between now and the breeze-ups and stock up with some nice horses."

Signora plays the bridesmaid

It looked for all the world as though Signora (evens favourite) was going to shed her maiden in the Mental Health Matters Fillies Maiden and open the seasonal account for Ryan Moore and Aidan O'Brien.

A couple of lengths clear at the two furlongs marker, Signora went around four or five lengths clear but her stride began to shorten in the final 110 yards. All the time Andrew Slattery was making relentless progress towards the centre of the track aboard the once-raced Pollenca (10/1).

Signora was crying out for the line but it didn't come in time as Pollenca's relentless progress continued, eventually running out the winner by a scarcely credible length and three quarters with the remainder well strung out behind.

Slattery said: "She's quite a backward filly, she's going to improve a lot for that.

"I liked the way she picked up and when she got there she pricked her ears again, there's still plenty left.

"I thought we were going hard enough for a fillies' maiden on that ground and the one thing about our horses, they're always very fit. The only reason we came back to seven is because the ground is the way it is and she's a filly who will go a mile and a quarter and maybe even a bit further in time; she's going the right way."

More from Sporting Life

• Free bets
• Racecards
• Fast results
• Full results and free video replays
• Horse racing news
• Horse racing tips
• Horse racing features
• Download our free iOS and Android app
• Football and other sports tips
• Podcasts and video content

Safer gambling

We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.

If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.

Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.