Hill lunges late to spring shock

25/1 shot Fox Hill lunge late to grab the spoils in the six-furlong claimer at Naas today.

The consistent Chernish looked to have done enough after hitting the front over a furlong from home but was chased down in the closing stages as her jockey Chris Hayes was just denied a quick treble.

Ronan Whelan got a good tune from the Adrian McGuinness-trained Foxwedge filly in the closing stages as she prevailed at the line for a short-head success.

The winner had finished mid-division on her debut at Tipperary before fading to finish 11th of 15 runners five days ago on softer ground at Listowel. She was dropping back to six for the first time today.

McGuinness said:- “I was very disappointed last Friday as I thought she would have gone on soft ground.

"I did very little with her since. She’s grubbed up and we rode her out Monday morning. She was fine so we said we’d run her.

“The ground has made a huge difference but she’s tough and hardy and she does battle. Her first run wasn’t a bad run, and obviously she wants good ground.

“She is there to be claimed if someone wants her, so we’ll see what happens.”

There were no claims for any of the runners.

(Quotes by Alan Magee)