Good Land © Photo Healy Racing
The 3/1 favourite Good Land won the Nathaniel Lacy & Partners Solicitors Novice Hurdle in the hands of Michael O'Sullivan for owner/trainer Barry Connell.
By Blue Bresil, sire of Constitution Hill and Blue Lord, the seven-year-old sat second and jumped past Weveallbeencaught two out.
Pushed along before the last to fend off the challenge of Sandor Clegane he jumped that flight as cleanly as he had all the others and was ridden out to beat the staying-on Absolute Notions by a length and a half. Sandor Clegane could find no extra on the run-in but held on to take third, a further two and three quarters of a length away.
A maiden winner over two furlongs shorter here at Christmas, Good Land was cut to 9/2 from 10s by Paddy Power for the Ballymore Novices Hurdle which is the only race he's entered for next month at Cheltenham.
“We were expecting that. He was a course and distance winner at Christmas and never came out of a hack canter,” said Connell.
“He hasn't missed a beat since then and we were very confident today. He's a quick horse and we didn't think he'd mind the ground.
“We only gave him one entry at Cheltenham in the Ballymore because we have the other horse for the Supreme (Marine Nationale).
“It couldn't have gone better, he was maybe a fraction keen over the first couple but then he got a lovely lead off Nigel's horse.
“He never missed a beat jumping, he got a lovely blow into him turning in. He hit the front probably plenty early and he was idling in front.
“I think we are still only scratching the surface with this guy. The big plus with him is that he's seven years of age.
“We bought him as a four-year-old from one of the point-to-point guys and gave him a run in a bumper. Then he had a few issues.
“It's a big advantage for these horses to have that age on their side. He's bombproof and you could see him walking around beforehand like he was at a kid's gymkhana.
“Marine is the same, the two of them are brilliant. We are a small operation, we have 25 horses, and we've had two entries in Grade 1s this season and won them both.
“He's not slow, I won the Albert Bartlett before with Martello Tower and it is quite hard on novices. I prefer the Ballymore, he could drop back to the Supreme if something happens to the other guy but I would need to supplement him.”
On Michael O'Sullivan he added:- “He's a find, he's ice cool and a brilliant horseman. He rides all of ours and I'm delighted. It doesn't matter if he claims or not.
“The good thing is that he's 22, he's not 16 or 17. He's been champion point-to-point rider and he's got his college degree now. He has maturity on his side which is a big help.”
O'Sullivan said: "He was a bit keen early and I was a small bit worried but I didn't think we were going overly fast and the ground's not too bad. He jumped well on the whole, good and slick and he was brilliant when I needed him.
"It went fairly smoothly. I sat on Sam's tail the whole way and got him to drop it after a couple of hurdles. Sam was trying to quicken it between hurdles but his horse was jumping a bit slow so I was getting to him without working too hard.
"It's funny the way things work. I rode a lot of point-to-point winners for Paul Cashman and he stands Blue Bresil (at Glenview Stud), so it's great for him as well.
"He was very professional. I got the home bend turning for home, set sail and I wasn't too worried about him staying on that ground. Garrett Cotter rides this horse out every day and does a great job with him because he's not the easiest."
Quotes from Gary Carson
