Twenty to one outsider Fergiethelegend sprang a surprise to win the TJ Reid & First Auto Finance Handicap Chase at Gowran today and set himself up for a tilt at the La Touche Cup at next month's Punchestown Festival.

Ridden by Ian McCarthy, the son of Flying Legend made most and stayed on gamely from the last for a three and three parts of a length win over Sacre Malta

Fergiethelegend's Champion Hurdle (Sublimity) winning trainer John Carr later revealed "he'll go for the La Touche at Punchestown; he's schooled over the banks, and has also been out hunting with the Tara Harriers over the winter.

"He'd a few good runs over hurdles but lost his way. The mix of training lately seems to have helped him."

By Tom Weekes, quotes from Alan Magee