The three miles Fairyhouse Comes Closer Beginners Chase was a race packed with incident and victory in the end went to Dessie Hughes' 20/1 outsider Leon Og under Roger Loughran.
Loughran avoided much of the trouble in the race (8 of the 16 runners failed to finish), moving the son of Oscar to lead before the final fence to eventually stay on strongly for a ten lengths win over Boxing Along
Afterwards Hughes stated "he ran well at Thurles the last day and I'd say it rode like a good race then - they went a good gallop and was staying on well over the 2m6f. However today I thought he wouldn't have any chance in such a competitive race."
He added "it's amazing the difference fences can make to a horse - chasing must have improved Leon Og a stone. He is owned by the Horsplay Syndicate from Lisburn, near Down Royal racecourse." Venalmar 9/4 favourite in the race, was pulled up after a few mistakes, including a bad one at the first, seven out and again three out. His trainer Mouse Morris subsequently reported that "Venalmar was not able to cope with today's ground.
