Real Appeal quickened up smartly to deny Lord Of The Lodge an all-the-way win in the Ballycorus Stakes at Leopardstown.
Karl Burke‘s Lord Of The Lodge looked set to make the journey from North Yorkshire worthwhile when he grabbed an early lead under Gavin Ryan and led his rivals a merry dance.
Ryan looked to have judged it perfectly as he kicked clear with over a furlong to run, but Shane Foley knew what he had underneath him.
Jessica Harrington‘s Real Appeal, a close third in a valuable handicap at Cork last time out, came with a sweeping run down the outside to collar Lord Of The Lodge close home.
The disappointment of the race was Kevin Prendergast’s Monaasib, who was third behind Poetic Flare in a Guineas Trial earlier in the season but never threatened to get involved.
Real Appeal won by half a length at 6-1, with two and a quarter lengths back to Pearls Galore in third.
Harrington said: “He really loves Leopardstown. I’d say his handicapping days are probably over now.
“He likes good ground, Leopardstown, and we’ll see where we go now with him.
“He has stepped forward very well this year, he’s a different horse, and I’m delighted with him.
“Seven (furlongs) is what he needs, I’m not sure he gets much further. Even still he got there a bit soon and was pulling himself up a little bit in front.
“This was the plan and I’ll have to go and look at the programme book now. He’ll come back here on Champions Weekend for the seven-furlong race, that will be his aim at the end of the year.”
