Image © Healy Racing
Everest The Brave remained unbeaten since joining Gavin Cromwell when he ran out a comfortable winner of the Down Royal Corporation Of Horsebreeders Maiden Hunter Chase at Downpatrick on Friday evening.
Everest The Brave remained unbeaten since joining Gavin Cromwell when he ran out a comfortable winner of the Down Royal Corporation Of Horsebreeders Maiden Hunter Chase at Downpatrick on Friday evening.
The six-year-old had made a winning stable debut at Necarne a fortnight earlier when landing a six-year-old geldings’ maiden at the Fermanagh venue earlier in the month, having started his career for Liam Phelan, falling at the last in Cragmore on his debut whilst holding every chance.
Sent off as an easy-to-back 17/2 shot, the Shantaram gelding had raced a shade keenly under Declan Lavery as West Of Idaho and Weespoof renewed their rivalry from Necarne by racing from the front.
The pair remained in the first two positions until they were outjumped at the final ditch, three-out by the eventual winner.
Weespoof tried to put it up to him approaching the final two fences as the odds-on favourite West Of Idaho dropped into third, however the writing was soon on the wall, as Everest The Brave powered clear up the hill to win snugly by eight lengths.
The wide-margin Necarne winner West Of Idaho rallied for second, whilst the 40/1 shot, Vodka Splash finishing strongly to nab third at the expense of a weakening Weespoof.
The success capped off a fine day for the local winning rider, who had earlier sold Lot 119, a Blackbeard filly to Palmer Equine for €75,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland Breeze-Up Sale.
“He did it well in fairness,” Lavery reported. “I was talking to Gavin before it and he said that he might still be a bit raw, he doesn’t have that much experience and jumped a bit big, but he was very good.
“He is probably better than what we thought. He actually won well. The other horses had plenty of experience and he didn’t, so I would say he is not too bad.
“It felt like we went steady, I knew jumping the third-last that he was going to win, it was just trying to get him to jump the last two, and he galloped to the line very strong. He is a straightforward horse. He will win plenty of races.”
