Cheltenham on agenda for improving Darver Star

Darver Star stayed on best under Jonathan Moore to win the Listed novice hurdle in Limerick by a length and a half.

The 13/8 favourite challenged front-running Fast Buck before the penultimate flight and and wore him down in the closing stages.

Hat-trick-seeking Fast Buck, who was trying testing ground for the first time, had to settle for second at 3/1 under Paul Townend who was without his irons on the run-in.

Gavin Cromwell said: "I'm not sure where we go after that, but he could potentially go to Cheltenham in November but we'll see how he comes out of that.

"He could go up to three miles but could also go back in trip as well. You'd have to stick to the novice route for the moment the way he is going.

"He had a bit of leg trouble before I got him and the owners were very patient with him, thankfully."

This brought up a four-timer for Darver Star who started his winning run off a mark of 119 in Downpatrick and was rated 145 for today's assignment.

Additional reporting by Tom Weekes