Racing from Leopardstown: Satin Dancer wins for David Wachman

News of the action from Leopardstown where David Wachman's White Satin Dancer demolished her rivals in the opener.

David Wachman may be retiring at the end of the season but could be forgiven for having second thoughts after seeing White Satin Dancer demolish her rivals in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies Maiden at Leopardstown.

The daughter of Oasis Dream quickened along the inside to take the lead from Xenobia halfway down the straight and stormed clear, crossing the line with four and three-quarter lengths to spare.

Wining rider Wayne Lordan said of the 4/1 winner: "She's a filly we've always liked. We ran her in a Group race first time out and she ran a good race. The race actually worked out as good as you can get it.

"Today she travelled easy and picked up well, she's a smart filly.

"I was a little bit cautious as she's after coming back from a break and has done well. She needed the break, filled out and got strong.

"I was hoping I wasn't going to get there too soon and she'd have a blow, but it didn't happen and it all worked out well."

Dermot Weld introduced a promising newcomer in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF (C & G) Maiden, with Titus showing a professional attitude to claim the spoils.

The Dansili colt is out of a Listed winner over a mile and a quarter, and Pat Smullen rode him prominently as the Jim Bolger pair of Musikel and Clongowes cut out the running.

The latter was sent off favourite and set sail for home at the top of the straight, but Smullen had him in his sights on the 8/1 chance and once taking the lead, Titus had enough in reserve to repel the late lunge of Venice Beach by half a length.

Smullen said: "He's a lovely horse, we like him a lot. He's a big, raw horse and I think today is a bonus. He's immature and you can see it in him, he can only improve over the winter."

Weld clearly holds the winner in high regard, saying: "It was a very nice performance. He's a lovely big colt.

"He did one or two nice pieces of work at home and I was very pleased with him. I thought he'd run a very nice race and that's what he's done.

"He's a very big colt and a horse with a lot of potential."

He added: "He'll probably appear in a Classic trial towards the end of April or early May. What his distance will be next year I'm not sure. He's a colt with plenty of pace anyway and I'd imagine we'll start him off at a mile.

"He'll always want good ground and that's one of the reasons we came here, for the nice ground.

"What I like about him is that for a horse that will probably stay well he has plenty of pace. I would expect him to be a stakes horse next year.

"He has an awful lot to learn as he's never been away before. It's all new to him and he's a gorgeous big horse."

Catch A Wave did not make much of an impact in a decent race at Naas last weekend but showed his appreciation for having his sights lowered by taking the Leopardstown Club Members Nursery Handicap.

Gary Halpin was positive on the Kevin Prendergast-trained 11-1 shot, who quickened away early in the straight and never looked likely to be caught, crossing the line with a length and three-quarters in hand of Perfect Storm.

Prendergast said: "That was a pleasant surprise. He's going to the Doncaster sales next week and that might help his sale.

"He's a genuine little horse. He ran well in Naas and we came here on account of him being on his way. We decided to ride him back the way he won.

"Kevin Ross bought him as a yearling and syndicated him. The idea was to win a couple of races, put him on the market and invest again."

Beau Satchel (16/1) returned to form to come out on top in the Leopardstown Christmas Festival Handicap.

Ado McGuinness' six-year-old has been a bit in-and-out since scoring at the Galway Festival for the third year in a row in July, but made eyecatching headway to close up on the front-running Jacobs Well with a quarter of a mile to travel.

The pair pulled clear and while Jacobs Well fought valiantly, he could not rally well enough to get his head back in front, with Beau Satchel flashing past the post half a length to the good.

McGuinness said: "I'm a bit surprised. He hates very heavy ground and had two bad runs on it. This was his last spin of the year so we let him take his chance.

"It's not very testing today - he can't handle really heavy. He was in good form. We just breezed him the other day and it left him nice and fresh.

"He's been a great servant. He's won seven times and won at Galway three times. We'll try and make it four in a row next year."