One Cool Shabra recorded his third juvenile hurdle win when again adopting familiar forcing tactics to just hold off chief market-rival Bat Masterson in the Christmas Championship at Gowran 3YO Hurdle.
The 11/8 favourite made all under Ger Fox and, despite jumping left at a number of hurdles, held off the well-backed 7/4 (from 5/2) chance Bat Masterson by a head.
The easy-to-back Tony Martin-trained newcomer Edeymi (10/1) appeared to be travelling best early in the straight but could find no extra from the last to finish another two and a half lengths adrift in third.
Winning trainer Oliver Brady was full of praise for the winning rider saying, “He's a good jock and has a great ability to keep calm. Thankfully he just hung on.”
The Willie Mullins-trained Darroun was a notable absentee here due to the change in ground to soft to heavy following 11mm of rain overnight.
