Gladiatorial the beneficiary as Brandt departs at the last

With Brandt falling at the final fence when in front, the Noel Kelly trained Gladiatorial proved a rather fortunate winner of the Leo McMorrow Memorial Handicap Chase at Sligo.

Over three years on from his last success, the nine-year-old was back in the winners' enclosure here after making the most of the opportunity that presented itself.

Disputing the lead for much of the race with Room To Roam the Fame And Glory gelding went on after three out, closely pursued by the Cian Collins trained Brandt.

The latter went on after jumping the penultimate fence, asserting in front on the run to the final obstacle. Meeting that all wrong, he took a crashing fall under Danny Gilligan.

That left the door open for Gladiatorial to get back up to win by five lengths.

Winning jockey Dara McGill said: "He was keeping galloping, there probably would have been a length or two in it, but you have to jump. The last day he was just back from a bit of a break which I think has done him the world of good, and hopefully he'll get a bit of confidence from that.

Trainer Noel Kelly added: "Everyone needs a bit of luck sometimes. He was running well here one day a couple of years ago when he came down at the last, and today the other horse made the mistake and we got up.

"You need luck and we've had plenty of it this last couple of months. I said to Dara to get a breather into him and that if he was travelling coming up the hill, to hold onto him as long as possible.

"This is a lucky place for me and my first winner was here with a horse called Mighty Whitey who won a bumper under Derek Fox.

"Dara, and his brother Oran, never let me down. I used to tell them what to do but now they're older they tell me what to do!"

Additional reporting by Mark Nunan.