'Family pet' gives Hallahan a first win

Family pet Close Enough (16/1) provided one-horse trainer Brian Hallahan with a first winner today as his bargain €600 buy made all to land Limerick's Racing Again October 21st Handicap Hurdle (div II), under Sean O'Keeffe.

The diminutive seven-year-old Yeats-mare had previously managed two third-placings from 13 runs but today made all and scored in David and Goliath-style, beating Gordon Elliott's strapping chaser C'est Quelqu'un (10/11f) by three lengths.

Hallanan, a farmer from Cappoquin, said “this is a great day and all she is is tough. She is my only horse and is a family pet but is called Close Enough for a reason — she'll either bite or kick you if you're close enough!

“We picked her up for €600 as a foal because she was small and she was too small to bring back to another sale. She is very well bred though and is a half-sister to four winning chasers so we had to do something with her.”

He added “the Celtic Tiger went against me - I got lost in the whole thing, got stuck for a lot of money having invested in a new gallop and got sick of the whole game to be honest.

“We're going to the RDS next week where my wife Sharon is competing in the show and hopefully we'll get that one over the line too.”