Heights bounces back from Curragh mishap

Elusive Heights showed no ill effects from his fall at the Curragh last month, as he took the last at Navan, the Follow Navan On Facebook Handicap.

Successful on his debut at Naas in April, the three-year-old son of Elusive Pimpernel then finished second to Long Island Sound at Killarney in May.

He was brought down on his most recent outing at the Curragh, and he was sent off the 2/1 favourite this evening in the colours of owners Anamoine Limited.

Settled towards rear by Colin Keane, he was sixth entering the straight. He soon took closer order on the outer and was ridden to the front inside the final furlong, going on to score by half a length. Club Wexford (8/1) kept on well to take second under Rory Cleary for Jim Bolger, while Marshall Jennings (7/1) was another half a length back in third under Kevin Manning for Jessica Harrington.

Ger Lyons, who earlier saw his 1/6 favourite Roibeard beaten in the opener, trains the winner and he said afterwards: "It's nice to end on a high.

"It was maybe a bit bottley of me to come here but he had such a fall. He's a very head shy horse and we took our time with him so that was the last thing we needed at the Curragh.

"This looked the ideal place to bring him and see how everything lay. I thought he came out of it well.

"Going forward we'll look at going ten furlongs. He's crying out for a step up and is a nice horse on the improve.

"He'll hold an entry for the Topaz Mile but I don't think he's man enough or has enough race craft to handle the hustle and bustle of Galway.

"The thinking behind coming here was that he might not be ready for Galway. I'll take a more long term view with him."

Additonal reporting by Gary Carson