Lad grinds down Mana for novice win

Drumconnor Lad had to work hard to land the odds in the Race Displays Rated Novice Chase at Navan this afternoon.

Adrian Keatley 's charge was sent to post a 4/6 shot for the two-mile one-furlong contest having been as big as 7/4 in the morning. Robin Des Mana made the running and proved a tough nut to crack on the run-in.

Mark Walsh arrived to challenge three from home on the hotpot but only got the better of his foe on the run-in for a hard-fought three-parts-of-a-length win.

The winner had chased home Livelovelaugh at Cork last month on his second outing over fences.

“I’m happy with that. The trip was a little bit short for him but when we saw the race we couldn’t turn away the opportunity. The conditions suited him as he hadn’t got a rating yet,” said Keatley.

“We’ll be looking forward to him when the ground gets a bit nicer. It was slow motion stuff out there today, and when they crossed the line they nearly stopped to a standstill.

“I’m delighted to get him to win and hopefully there is a good pot in him in the spring.”

(Quotes by Alan Magee)