Sean O'Keeffe sends Sandor Clegane home© Photo Healy Racing
Sandor Clegane (15/8f) showed his class in landing the Connolly's RED MILLS EBF Auction Hurdle Final at Punchestown.
The Fame And Glory gelding disputed the lead throughout with his main market-rival Three Card Brag over this extended 2m3f assignment.
He travelled the better of the pair with a fractional lead approaching two out, but met it on the wrong stride. Sean O'Keeffe quickly grabbed hold of him and the pair didn't lose momentum or the lead.
Three Card Brag soon gave best as Sandor Clegane asserted from My Gaffer on the long run to the final flight.
He had a good look at the final flight but still had plenty in the tank as he was kept up to his work to see off closest pursuer Della Casa Lunga (14/1) by a length and three-quarters. Senior Chief was another two and a-half lengths back in third at 10/3.
Paul Nolan 's Sandor Clegane ran third in Grade 1 contests at Leopardstown and the Albert Bartlett at the Cheltenham Festival.
O'Keeffe said: "We knew he would stay very well.
"He is a horse that gets into a nice rhythm and jumps well, he was probably jumping too well to that hurdle (second-last) and he just met it on a half stride. A bit of a guess just when we were starting to get rolling.
"Overall, he's a good jumper and it was a good performance.
"The two of us (Three Card Brag) probably were in the same boat in that we wanted a nice gallop, but neither of us were really mad to make it. We went along upsides and we went a nice, even gallop all the way. It kind of suited both of us and, in fairness, this lad picked up nicely into the straight.
"It is beautiful ground - it is just yielding, it isn't any slower. It is lovely jumping ground."
Nolan added: “We didn't declare for the Grade 1, we had a talk and some were for it and some against it. If he wasn't going to win this, he wasn't going to win the Grade 1 in an hour's time.
“Why take on a horse rated 10lb above you? He'd won one maiden hurdle and is the best horse we have in the yard, so it's nice to get another win with him.
“He'd prefer easier ground, it's as nice as he'd want it, but it's lovely ground and the track looks fantastic.
“Next to my father Dan Browne is the greatest gentleman I ever met and is a great supporter for the yard. I delighted for Jim Coffey and all the lads involved.
“It means an awful lot for every trainer to win here and thanks be to God we got one.
“We'll probably start off over two-and-a-half over fences next season and build it up.
“Please God it will lead to Cheltenham again. It's nice to get out the gap with a nice pot and he deserves it as he was placed in a couple of Grade Ones.
“He got into an awful lot of traffic problems in Cheltenham and today was a little bit simpler. He gives his hurdles a foot, bar one of them where he stuck a foot in it.
“He had loads of horse left and he went to the line well.
“We bought the horse off James Doyle, off a piece of work, and thankfully he didn't put us wrong and we're lucky to have him.
“Hopefully he'll win a Grade 1 one day if we can keep him in one piece. Hopefully we'll be able to take on Willie, Gordon and Henry and beat them some day.”
Additional reporting by Gary Carson
