Our Duke (near side) and Pylonthepressure© Photo Healy Racing
Trainer Jessica Harrington and stable jockey Robbie Power enjoyed better fortunate in the second race, than the first, at Leopardstown today when the pair won the Coral.ie 'Best Price Guaranteed On Irish Racing' Maiden Hurdle with promising hurdling newcomer Our Duke
Harrington and Power were out of luck in the opener when their Billy's Hope which matched at 1.01 in-running, was 'chinned' late-on by Pride Of The Braid
However the pair had better fortune with Our Duke, who overcome some novicey jumps when making his own luck for a smart win over 8/13 favourite Pylonthepressure
Afterwards Harrington stated “he was very good; his jumping was a bit slow but he's a big horse and at the end of the day he's going to be a chaser.
“The other horse (Pylonthepressure) was slicker over his hurdles but once he got on to the flat and Robbie got him stoked up, he put his head down and galloped.
“He is a good horse, is six now and you can see the size of him. He'll be a chaser next year.
“He has an entry in the Deloitte (Grade 1 novice hurdle) and we'll see. His jumping would want to be slicker but that will get better.
“He's a nice horse to have and could drop back to two miles as he has plenty of toe and relaxes wherever you want.”
Regarding her earlier runner-up Billy's Hope, she added “she just idled and if the other horse had come to her sooner she would have gone on again. It's just one of those things and that made up for it.”
By Tom Weekes, quotes from Gary Carson
