J J Jumbo (Near Side) Winning at Dundalk (Healy Racing Photographers)
J J Jumbo put up an impressive performance off top weight to record his first career win in the William Hill Best Odds Guaranteed Handicap over 7 furlongs at Dundalk. He traveled strongly through the race and from early in the home straight I felt confident he would go on and win. It was a well deserved success for J J after being 2nd and 3rd on his two previous outings on artificial surfaces.
I was particularly delighted to achieve a first win in Ireland for his owner, Sultan Saeed Mohammid Harib Alfalahi. Sultan is a hugely enthusiastic owner and breeder who loves his horses and racing. Hopefully, this will be the first of many wins for him in Ireland.
J J is a lovely big colt who is a real character and becomes a firm favourite of everyone who meets him. He benefited massively from his time at the Dubai World Cup Carnival this year. He performed with a lot of credit there, including when 3rd in a conditions race on the dirt. I expect we'll be back there for the carnival in 2023 and he'll be very competitive. We'll see can he achieve another first for Sultan by giving him a win at the Carnival. That will certainly be a day to look forward to.
In the meantime, we'll keep him to all weather surfaces, for which he clearly has a preference. He came out of the race very well and jumped straight into his feed as usual when he got home. We'll freshen him up now ahead of his next race.
Robert Whearty gave him a lovely ride today and is a talented young apprentice who is very good value for his 7lb claim. Many thanks to all my team at home for their excellent work as ever, and it was a well deserved success for them also. Adrian Mohammed deserves particular mention for the great job he has done from the outset riding J J every day.
Thanks for all the kind messages we received after the race. They are very much appreciated.