Gentle Cloud makes it five in-a-row

Gentle Cloud recorded his fifth win in-a-row as he justified odds-on favouritism in the Listowel Supporters Club Hunters Chase.

The Padraig Higgins trained ten-year-old started the sequence by winning a point-to-point at Fairyhouse back in May of 2014.

He then went on to win 'points' at Kilfeacle and Dungarvan in January of this year before transferring the form to the track by winning at Killarney on his last start.

He was a fortunate winner at Killarney, after Seventh Sign crashed out at the last, but there was nothing fortunate about his win today.

Sent off the 9/10 favourite he tracked the leaders and was fourth at the halfway stage.

He gained a narrow lead as they entered the straight for the final time and while he was pressed two out he asserted before the last, going on to win easily by eleven lengths under Johnny Barry. Red River Gold who was backed from 9/2 to 3/1 on-course, finished second under Eoin O'Brien for Donie Murphy while Slieveardagh (6/1) was twenty-two lengths back in third under Kevin Power for Edward O'Grady. Shin A Vee was earlier taken out due to the change in going.

Padraig Higgins said afterwards: "I was going to leave him off after his win at Killarney as I thought the ground would get too hard but a few pieces of work recently had him right for today and the ground suited him.

"He'll be left off now and will come back for Open Lightweights and more hunters chases and I'd love to run him in the Foxhunters (Chase at Cheltenham) - he missed it last year as he had a virus."

Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes