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Donal Murphy
Titans shows good battling qualities
Johnny King rode Wrath Of Titans to victory in the bumper at Thurles, beating his brother Pa into second on Kayf Blanco
© Photo Healy Racing
Wrath Of Titans went off the odds-on 8/15 favourite for the bumper at Thurles, the Toboradora INH Flat Race, but he was made to battle for his win, eventually coming out on top, under Johnny King for Dessie Hughes.
The four-year-old son of Oscar won a point-to-point at Lingstown on his debut in March, and he then ran a cracker in the Goffs Land Rover bumper at the Punchestown Festival to finish second to Moyle Park.
Both those runs came for Gordon Elliott, and on his first start for Dessie Hughes, he raced in a share of fourth in the early stages, as High Rebel went into a clear lead.
As they approached the straight he improved and travelled well just behind the leaders, and he soon hit the front. Kayf Blanco under Pa King came through to challenge and head Wrath Of Titans over a furlong out, but the 'jolly' responded well to pressure close home, and he got back up in the closing stages, scoring by half a length at the line.
Kayf Blanco ran a fine race to take second for Harry Kelly at 10/1, while Gone Platinum was a further three and three parts of a length back in third under David Roche for Henry De Bromhead also at 10/1.
Dessie Hughes said afterwards: “He showed a bit of bottle and that is what you want. He is a nice horse and we will find a maiden hurdle before Christmas and hopefully there will be a race for him around Christmas time then."
Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes