Jockey Jonathan Moore and trainer Tom Gibney following their double, with Stoughan Cross© Photo Healy Racing
Trainer Tom Gibney registered his first double at Navan today, as his Stoughan Cross won the Follow Navan On Facebook Handicap Chase and followed up the earlier hurdling success of stablemate Next Bend both of whom were ridden by jockey Jonathan Moore.
Gibney, who is based in nearby Kells, was understandably delighted with his day’s work and later stated “they (his horses) seem to be back in a bit of form thank-god, we were really struggling there for about 12 weeks with the form of the yard. We thought coming here that we were over it and it looks like we are right. Hopefully they stay like that now and we keep them right.”
Regarding Stoughan Cross, he added “he’s all heart. He's not the most scopey in the world but he's all heart. If you have a horse that tries for you like him you can't go too far wrong.
“We'll try and find something similar for him. He handles the bad ground well but he won't mind it a bit better than that either. Whether he has the pace for it or not I'm not sure.
“We've had a few one and twos but never a double before so it's great, especially as it's my local track. Navan and Fairyhouse (where he won the 2012 Irish Grand National with Lion Na Bearnai) have been very lucky for me.”
By Tom Weekes, quotes from Gary Carson
