The almost white Dariak proved a game winner of the Ladbrokes Supporting Irish Sports Hurdle at Punchestown today, making all for trainer Tom Foley and jockey Davy Condon.

The son of Highest Honour’s racing style is not dissimilar to Desert Orchid’s and while he has nowhere near the same ability, did show plenty of enthusiasm to defeat See U Bob

Afterwards Foley said “Dariak would give you every bit he has and it’s nice to come back and get a win with him – he has been off for three years after hurting himself here in 2008.

“It is getting harder to get him fit with age and it took a lot of work to get him right today. The plan was always to give him a couple of runs over hurdles and then go chasing as jumping is no bother to him. If a real nice hurdle comes up I might run him but I don’t want to wait too long before going over fences. I think he’ll stay three miles and good ground is no bother to him either.”