McCarthy's Blaggard is not short of ability

Student raceday at Tramore kicked off with a maiden hurdle for unplaced horses which was won in remarkable fashion by The Blaggard (7/2).

The Califet gelding, trained by Eoin McCarthy, had looked green on his previous outing when fourth in a Listowel maiden won by stablemate Kingdom Calling at the huge odds of 250/1.

Here, he had moved into contention when jinking left on the approach to two out where the fall of Polly Poppins left him second.

Hanging left between the final two flights, Gary Noonan's mount looked held by Mount Mandela jumping the last but, despite again shifting left on the short run-in, stayed on well to collar that one close home for a half-length victory.

McCarthy, who trains the four-year-old for his wife Saorcha Fitzgerald, was on lead-up duties and said: "He got his name because he is a little bit quirky. He's learning away and he's a nice horse going forward.

"It's nice to see the form of the Listowel race working out, but he still has a lot to learn. He's coming along nicely (physically). It’s nice because we invested in a lot of stores last year and two of them have won maidens this year. He was only a €2,000 store.”

Quotes from Donal Murphy