It was all plain sailing for Lord Schnitzel as he recorded an all-the-way victory in the Earl of Harrington Memorial Maiden Hunter Chase at Limerick.
Setting out his stall from the drop of the flag, Chris O’Donovan soon raced the eight-year-old into an early lead and from there he gave an exhibition of jumping out of the extremely testing conditions which caught out a number of his rivals, with Aghmorough Bridge and Fiston Du Mou over the opening four fences.
Taking the long run into the home straight, one by one his rivals came under pressure, and from the penultimate fence there was only going to be one outcome as the odds-on favourite pulled further and further clear.
By the line, Lord Schnitzel was 11 lengths clear of his rivals with Is A Real Champ winning the battle to be best of the rest as he took second, just under five lengths in front of the mare Midway To Getaway.
The victory saw Lord Schnitzel continue a sequence of victories which began at Loughrea and included further wins at Rathcannon and Kildorrery as he also confirmed the placings of his Loughrea maiden victory when he had the Limerick second Is A Real Champ behind in second.
“He enjoys hunter chasing and going back in grade a little,” Declan Queally told irishracing.com.
“When the horse came to me, Matthew (Smith, previous trainer) rang me and felt he needed a change of scenery and he went through everything with me.
“He showed some brilliant form for Matthew and is just above his grade here and it is working out nicely. He has plenty of experience in big handicaps and had some great runs behind Faugheen and Carefully Selected.
“I said we'd drop back to this level and age-wise, he is just perfect for hunter chases.
“I'd probably say he'll go to the Aintree Foxhunters rather than Cheltenham — I'd like to see him over the national fences as he is a big and bold and it would suit him.”
