Golantilla and Adrian Heskin© Photo Healy Racing
The stop/start career of Golantilla took a step forward as the promising but lightly-raced gelding made a successful debut over hurdles in the two-mile Holycross Maiden Hurdle at Thurles.
An expensive purchase by Barry Connell prior to finishing third to Briar Hill in the 2013 Cheltenham Festival Bumper, the six-year-old missed a good chunk of last season before finishing in mid-division behind Silver Concorde when returning to the Cotswolds for another crack at the Champion Bumper last March.
The 4/7 favourite jumped well under Adrian Heskin, completing a double on the day following the earlier success of Federici in the handicap chase, but needed to ridden out on the run-in.
The Tony Martin-trained gelding had half a length to spare over the staying on Ryansbrook with Way Wild West also putting in some good work in the closing stages to take third.
Paddy Power introduced the winner at 20/1 for the Neptune Investment Management Novices Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
Martin said, "You'd have to be pleased with that and the way he settled and jumped. He'll definitely improve for that run and we'll see in a fortnight's time where to go next.
"You'd be encouraged by the way he jumped and down the road he could step up in trip."
(TW & AM)
