Kevin Sexton drew level with Jody McGarvey on the 19 winner mark in the claiming riders title race when Rightville Boy took the www.limerickraces.ie Handicap Hurdle.

The well-backed 4/1 chance (6/1 this morning and available at 9/2 on track) was prominent throughout and kept on gamely on the run-in for Sexton to just hold the late surge of Suffren by a short-head.

The runner-up can certainly be termed unlucky as he travelled better than anything when meeting the second last all wrong, and would have been up in another stride or two.

The pair pulled five and a half lengths clear of 2/1 favourite Count Salazar in third.

Winning trainer Paddy Neville, “He’s a lovely horse. It’s my own fault he ran badly at Gowran as I took a chance running him on the ground and he didn’t like it.

“I was going to let him off but it’s great to get a winner at your local track. We’ll see how he is after today and he might have another run.

“Kevin is a great lad. He rode a horse for me that ran badly at Christmas and I told him the next one I’d give him would be a proper ride.”

Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes