Butcher Hollow gets his day in the sun at Fairyhouse A former bumper winner who had been placed on five of his six starts over flights, Butcher Hollow recorded the second success of his career under rules when running out an easy winner of the opening Easter Festival 19th - 21st April Maiden Hurdle at Fairyhouse. Having been victorious on his only point-to-point start at Tallow in February 2023, the Tom Cooper trained gelding made an immediate impact on his racecourse debut when landing a Galway bumper in October of that same year. Runner-up on his first two starts over hurdles, the six-year-old continued to run with credit without quite managing to shed his maiden status. However, everything fell into place this afternoon, as the Sean Flanagan partnered Kingston Hill gelding led two out before powering clear to beat Good Deal seven lengths. “He deserved that, he had plenty of placed form last year,” said Tom Cooper. “He had a couple of hard races, he had a very hard race against Jade De Grugy in Leopardstown. They went hammer and tongs for over two miles and pulled clear of the rest. “That knocked the socks out of him a bit, even though he was still placed afterwards. “It took him a while then we had him back in the autumn and he had an injury and we lost half the season with him. That’s why we stayed hurdling with him. “He’s a big three-mile novice chaser, that’s his game. He was flat out early there, he was only getting going at the finish. He doesn’t mind a bit of nice ground though. “We’ll give him another go over hurdles and might look for something at Punchestown.” Additional reporting by Gary Carson.
