Rough Diamond sparkles at Naas

Always in the front rank towards the stands' side, the strong-travelling Rough Diamiond went away in the final furlong to land the CW Clothing H´cap by two and three quarter lengths.

The lightly-raced five-year-old, ridden by Shane Crosse, had been second at Navan on his seasonal reappearance and came on from that to score from a mark 10lb lower than when first allotted a rating. Earls came through for second, with half a length and the same back to Sister Lola and Mickey the Steel.

Winning trainer Eddie Lynam said: “He did it well. He won a maiden first time out, which is very unlike one of mine, and suffered then as he got a lofty rating.

“He's kind of stupid and he's well named! He'd be kept back a few years in school if he was on two legs, he's not the brightest bulb in the shop.

“He's getting the hang of sprinting, he ran well a couple of weeks ago, and Shane said he was pretty straight forward today.

“There is a huge draw bias here, he was high and Teddy (Boy, runner-up in the earlier 5f handicap) was low. It's swings and roundabouts but you need to be down this side.”

Quotes from Gary Carson