4.30 1m. 4-y-o plus26 Ran
Ladbrokes.com Irish Lincolnshire of €100,000.00 4-y-o plus

1st - €65,100.00, 2nd - €20,000.00, 3rd - €10,000.00, 4th - €4,000.00 26 Ran

Runner up in the race 12 months previous Crooked Throw went one better than that to land this years renewal by a head from dual campaigner Vaqueras who carried one pound overweight. The pair had a right ding dong battle inside the final furlong, so much so that the stewards called an enquiry into possible interference in the final 100 yards.

The result was allowed stand and it was a good effort from the winner who was not only saddled with 9st9lbs but was drawn 1 into the deal as well.

A good pipe opener at Dundalk put the winner in good shape for this and his trainer Charlie Swan maintained that he loves the bottomless ground.

A neck was the winning margin and connections of Vaqueras could have little complaints about the result. Running four pounds out of the handicap the five-year-old put up a bold effort off 8st4lbs in his first flat handicap outing since October last year when he finished 13th in a 60-80 rated contest.

Since then he has had eight runs in handicap hurdles, just one of which yielded success and he can look forward to mixing it over both codes if not let off on a break.

The well travelled Victram stayed on well out of the pack to claim third spot. Aido McGuinness' charge was fourth in the Imperial Cup at Sandown before never getting into the County Hurdle at Cheltenham six days later but on ground that was far from ideal he showed indications that his winning days are not behind him yet.

John Oxx's Alarazi landed was making his debut in handicap company and carried a wide berth in the latter stages before claiming fourth. The Spectrum gelding was carrying 9st9lbs here ad he had landed his maiden on similar ground last March when beating Siege Of Ennis and Creachadoir and this was no bad effort on just his third start. Interesting to note that Michael Kinane reported to the stewards secretary that his mount suffered interference early and from then on could never get a clear run.

Estrela Brage was the subject of a belated change in the handicap after Friday's declaration when he was put up nine-pounds by the Irish Handicapper. Trained in France by John Hammond, his French form and his low mark was enough to encourage some of his chances and even on the revised weight he was well fancied but the ground and the weight just got to him.

Indian Pace appeared to handle the ground and was another dual performer to be well fancied despite being one of nine horses out of the handicap proper but failed to land a blow at the business end along with Ger Lyons' Little White Lie.