Magic Tricks adapts well to fences

Many held chances down over the closing few fences in the straight, making for an exciting conclusion to the Club Orange Beginners Chase at Down Royal. It was favourite backers that had the last laugh with Magic Tricks (9/4) obliging for J P McManus and Gordon Elliott.

A course winner over flights, the victorious eight-year-old was beginning over racecourse fences here, but he had started his career back in 2020 with a runner-up placing in a four-year-old point-to-point.

In the hands of Jody McGarvey he proved a length and a quarter and half a length too strong for Jimmy Chou Pecos and Clifftop prompting assistant trainer Lisa O'Neill to say: "I think he was more than capable of that today. He adapted really well over fences for the first time.

"He was probably a little bit guessy over the first two, but Jody got him into a really nice rhythm and he shortened up where he had to. I thought he was really effective over them today, the good ground definitely helps him as well.

"Hopefully, he can go on to do a little bit more over fences.

"He does like it here and he has got himself off to a good start over fences today, and hopefully he can build on it.

"He's very clever (over a fence), he's probably not the biggest of horses but he was very quick and nimble where he had to be. Those fences take a bit of jumping sometimes, so you'd have to be taken with the way he has adapted to it."

(MG & EM)