Una Corcoran with Toppy's Boy and Phillip Enright © Photo Healy Racing
Toppy's Boy stayed on relentlessly in the Tom McCormack Memorial Cup Maiden Hurdle at Kilbeggan to give trainer Una Corcoran a poignant first track success.
The 66/1 shot raced in sixth over the penultimate flight and that sextet soon had the race to themselves on the approach to the road crossing.
He moved into fourth there and motored into second behind Edge of My Seat before the final flight. Edge Of My Seat couldn't fend him off and the five-year-old gelding swept past him in the final 150 yards to win by three and three-quarter lengths from the 9/1 runner-up. Kiss My Lucky Egg was 17 lengths adrift in third having been backed down to 28/1.
"He (father) was a great man, he was an amateur jockey himself — a super man. He gave it to us all and he was a good man. He was known as rogue,” said owner/trainer Corcoran.
“I've always done it with Dad, hence the name of the horse. He said 'I hope I get to see him run someday' but he died about a week later. He was on him today.”
Corcoran trained two point-to-point winners in the 2010/11 season.
Additional reporting by Gary Carson
