Barry Lyndon (right) and Conor Maxwell © Photo Healy Racing
Barry Lyndon got in as first reserve in division two of the Punchestown’s Fittest Club Sunday June 11th Maiden Hurdle and proceeded to record a shock 40/1 success on debut.
The Dermot McLoughlin-trained gelding made a number of mistakes and appeared to have lost any chance when blundering at the penultimate flight.
However, he got going again under Conor Maxwell and was in third spot when again far from fluent at the last.
To his credit the five-year-old also overcame this setback and finished strongly to beat Extrapolation by two and a quarter lengths with Sign From Above a further half-a-length away in third.
Maxwell said, “He’s a lovely horse and fair play to Shane Donohoe who recommended him to Dermot last year. The owners bought him and have given him a bit of time.
“He loves that ground but was very green the whole way and his jumping let him down but I always had loads of horse in between.
“In fairness he did well and hit the line strong. If he gets his jumping together he could improve.
“He’s bred to get a bit further. He jumps well at home but it was his first run today and hopefully he could be a good horse for the summer.”
