Pat Hughes can do little wrong these days and the Carlow handler, successful with Mantles Prince in the Ladbroke Hurdle last weekend, sent out English import Topacio to justify warm support under former champion Charlie Swan in the Kill Maiden Hurdle at Naas on Saturday.
'I suppose we'll have to take on the likes of Young American again to see what happens and he'll head to Leoardstown on February 6th for the La Touche Hurdle,' said Hughes, of the former Stuart Williams inmate which changed hands for 45,000 gns at the Newmarket Sales last October.
The winner is one of five horses recently purchasd by the Pearse Racing Club which was set up to raise funds for the Pearse Stadium in Salthill Galway.
Former Galway All-Ireland winning hurler, Joe Connolly, a member of the project team, said, 'We spent #314,000 on five horses and hopefully this one will be good enough to go to Cheltenham.'
There was a dramatic outcome to the four-runner EBF Novice Chase when 5 to 1 outsider Bedthem Prince came home alone in very fortuitous circumstances to provide championship leader Barry Geraghty with his 49th victory of the season.
Third Agenda looked set to collect for Philip Carberry when a couple of lengths clear on the run down to the last but he crashed out here along with the chasing Templevalley and Pat Verling. Their exit left Bedthem Prince, who was lucky to survive a bad blunder at the penultimate fence and looked set for third place, to safely negotiate this obstacle for a bloodless victory.
No Discount enhanced the form of Tom Taaffe's Champagne Native when providing trainer/rider Charlie Swan with a short price double in the 2m3f novice hurdle.Narrowly defeated at the course earlier this month, No Discount made no mistake this time drawing steadily clear from the penultimate flight to run out the eight length winner.
Neil Mulholland (19), who hails from Belfast, recorded his first success over fences when he teamed up with Dick Lalor's improving mare Carrigeen Lily to win the Dunshane Handicap Chase, her third win on the bounce over the larger obstacles.
Tramore amateur David Roche will have fond memories of the afternoon as he recorded his first victory in the saddle when teaming up with his father John's Deoch An Dorais to win the concluding bumper.
It was not such a good day for rider Aidan Fitzgerald as he was handed a ten day ban for using his stick with excessive frequency aboard More Doe which finished third.
BF
