Well-travelled Korean gains a Thurles win Sabrina Harty and Mick Darcy teamed up successfully with Silas Mariner at Cork on Sunday and the pair repeated the dose with Korean in the Holycross Handicap Hurdle at Thurles. A mistake two out threatened to scupper the nine-year-old's bid but he was better at the last and stayed on tenaciously on the run-in to see off Lus Na Hoiche. Big morning market mover Tell Fraulein was easy to back on track and ran accordingly, well-beaten from the fourth last hurdle. Korean won the last of a couple of chases in France back in 2007 before joining Richard Pugh to point-to-point. He finished second in a Castletown-Geoghegan open under Pugh's wife Jennifer. Then his current owner Chris Byrne purchased the nine-year-old to ride him in a charity race and actually ended up partnering him in five races. He owns Coilog Equestrian Centre in Naas and was delighted with this win as the horse had only gained a reprieve after showing a bit of form recently.
