Solitary Man and Darragh O'Keeffe© Photo Healy Racing
Darragh O'Keeffe followed up yesterday's notable Charlie Hall Chase win at Wetherby with a Cork double today, landing the Listed Paddy Power Irish EBF Novice Hurdle on the Enda Bolger-trained Solitary Man (5/2).
Bred by retired Irish soccer player Kevin Doyle, Solitary Man won twice from three Killarney runs this summer and while beaten a neck by Desert Heather over today's course-and-distance in October, today turned form under a 11lb weight swing.
Racing prominently, O'Keeffe utilised Solitary Man's scope to secure fine leaps as the pair held off runner-up What Path with Pinyon Jay finishing third and Desert Heather fourth.
Bolger reported “Darragh said he’s manning up all the time and his jumping is excellent.
“After the last day here, I was saying that he had been busy enough and would we leave him alone, but I just saw the entries and said we’d have a shot at it. It was a good call and good prize money to get.”
He added “I don’t know what I'll do now - he definitely likes nice ground and I’d prefer to put him away. He’s only five and if they’re good, they’re worth minding so we mightn’t see him now until the spring.
“Fences will be his real thing, so maybe we could eventually look at a beginners’ chase at Killarney.”
O'Keeffe had earlier won on Tom Gibney's Flamborough and at Wetherby yesterday, overturned King George VI Chase winner Bravemansgame on the Mouse Morris-trained Gentlemansgame.
