Wait Here powers home to land third career victory

Wait Here (10/1) passed plenty of horses in the straight to take the Stanley Asphalt Handicap Hurdle under 5lb claimer Simon Torrens.

Third jumping the last, he collared Breezy Bell (14/1) on the run-in to beat that one by a length and a quarter with long-time leader Pottlerath (7/1) the same distance further away in third.

The Austin Leahy-trained gelding had won twice as a 4-year-old back in 2017 and hadn’t managed a win in the interim, although he had been placed many times in handicap hurdles in that time including a fine second to Darver Star at Killarney last year.

Kilmallock handler Leahy has been enjoying a good run of form with five winners on the Flat since racing resumed in June.

The winning rider Torrens (15th winner of the campaign) said: “It wasn’t the strongest of races on paper and I was hopeful coming here that he’d run well.

“I was getting no run between the last two but when I got out and got a bit of light down to the last he finished really well.”

Additional reporting by Alan Magee