Dubai boost for Morgan after Miss Gorica wins

Ballivor trainer Joanna Morgan had plenty of reasons to celebrate, despite being sidelined with a broken leg, when Miss Gorica won in Dubai last Thursday. Morgan"s charge took the opening event, the seven-furlong Muhtathir Stakes of over €50,000 at the Dubai Carnival. Partnered by Ted Durcan, Morgan"s runner was one of the outsiders, but showed plenty of guts to fend off both Lessing and British-trained Clifton Dancer in the straight. Morgan, recovering at home from a broken leg, sent the horse to Dubai accompanied by Amy Parsons, and entered the race on the advice of Durcan. 'Her best trip is six furlongs, but Ted said there wouldn"t be many runners. I had pencilled her in for a six-furlong race on 22nd January, but luckily we went for this instead.' Morgan said that the slow pace helped Miss Gorica to get the trip and that six or six and a half furlongs is still her best trip, so those are the races they would be looking at. Miss Gorica won at Navan last June for Declan McDonogh and had a run at Dundalk on the all-weather last December before heading for Dubai. Her previous success out there was in 2001 with One Won One. One of the owners of One Won One, Fr Sean Breen, a great friend of the trainer, who was known as the chaplain to Irish racing, passed away on Thursday night. He headed up the Heavenly Syndicate which owned the horse that won 12 races, including a Group 3 sprint at the Curragh and five listed races. Kilmessan jockey Jason Maguire and Cloudy Lane, one of trainer Donald McCain"s main Aintree Grand National hopes, won in a thrilling finish in the Peter Marsh Chase at Haydock on Saturday. The battle saw Cloudy Lane finish a head in front of Glasker Mill at 6/1. He has been installed as a 20/1 chance for Aintree, where he was sent off at 7/1 last year. In 2008, Maguire, a nephew of trainer and former jockey Adrian, finished sixth in the National on the horse, 33 lengths behind Comply or Die. Two wins after the weights were published had meant he was 18lb well in. The jockey has been one of the few to complete the gruelling circuit in most of the grand nationals of recent years. On Saturday, he had to dig deep to hold the challenge of Glasker Mill by a head, with Opera Mundi two lengths back in third. The stewards held an inquiry into possible interference at the final fence, although that was of no great concern as owner Trevor Hemmings also owns the runner-up, and within minutes the stewards confirmed the placings. Hemmings enjoyed some good luck last week as he benefited at Taunton on Thursday when Pangbourne won a handicap chase after jockey James Davies was unseated by the leader, Topless, less than 20 yards from the post with the race at his mercy. Donald McCain, son of Ginger McCain of Red Rum and Amberleigh House fame, said Cloudy Lane will be aimed at the National once again. 'I"ll be looking to give him one more race after the weights have been published,' he said. ' He was a good third at Wetherby after Christmas, so I thought he was coming back. 'In hindsight Jason perhaps went too soon, but he didn"t have much option - you can"t start taking a pull on a horse with a big weight in this sort of ground.'