Gunnery Officer earns his medals as he ensures valuable prize is in safe keeping

The second running of the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee-backed winners' final was at the centre of last weekend’s action on the Bree Foxhounds card in Monksgrange.

Established in an effort to encourage older horses to remain within the point-to-point sphere, the race was confined to horses aged six or older who had not won a race before the start of the current season but who had since finished in the first four at least once.

In fact, all six horses who faced the starter at the Wexford venue had earned at least one victory, including Is A Real Champ, who is one of six horses on the four-winner mark for the season.