Megalomaniac and Rachael Blackmore.© Photo Healy Racing
After her double on the Flat on Saturday evening, Rachael Blackmore made it four winners in total for her at the August Festival by taking the final day feature, the McCarthy’s Irish Bar Handicap Chase, for Henry de Bromhead on the 9/2 joint favourite Megalomaniac
The Alfred Nobel six-year-old, winner of his only previous chase start over this course and distance in May, was always handy, hit the front before the second last and galloped on to beat the other 9/2 joint favourite Demi Plie by two lengths, with October Revoution (7/1) another four and a quarter lengths back in third place.
Always a man to follow at his local track, it was rather surprisingly a first winner of the Festival for the delighted winning trainer de Bromhead who said: "He jumped brilliant and is built for that job. I went back to hurdles at Galway as I thought he was off a good mark but maybe it was a bit silly and since then I thought I should have gone for the Galway Blazers Chase instead.
"He ended up here instead and it is great to win the feature race today and it is nicer to get one at our local track.
"Rachael was brilliant on him, he jumped brilliant and he is a massive horse who I think will keep improving.
"We'll see now whether he makes the cut to stay home now or go to Doncaster (Sales) in September. We'll fight his corner now as he is only coming to his peak now."
Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes
