Lady luck was certainly smiling on Shay Barry as after benefiting from Royal Choice s departure at the last in the previous race (her rider Andrew Lynch was stood down for the rest of the evening) he then deputised for the unfortunate Lynch on Coscorrig in the following Mallow Town Summer BBQ Race Evening Beginners Chase.
With only six fences to be jumped in this two miler (all fences taken out down the back due to the low lying sun and the final fence due to damage) it was a race with a strange feel to it. It was even more dramatic in view of the fact that 8/11 favourite, Norther Bay bolted before the start and completed about two and a half miles before being withdrawn. His rider Davy Russell commented afterwards: "I've ridden in 14 point-to-points in a day before but I've never been as tired as I am now."
Coscorrig eventually beat Celtic Strand by five lengths prompting her trainer, Andy Lynch to say: "It's the first time she got her ground. She loves fast ground. She ran well at Leopardstown and Punchestown and she'll go for a handicap now but I don't know where yet."
