Double joy for Labaik team after quirky character wins festival opener

Building excitement every day until the festival

Eyewitness tales

Mouse O’Ryan, part-owner of Labaik, winner of the 2017 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle

As everyone knows, he ran the month before Cheltenham and he barely jumped off with them, so we were obviously worried that he’d plant himself at the start of the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.

He was quirky, but Keith Donoghue and Ian ‘Busty’ Amond did a lot of work with him in the build-up to Cheltenham and, while it was a gamble running him at the festival, we knew he had the engine, if only he’d jump off with them.

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Published on 11 March 2018inCheltenham Festival

Last updated 16:27, 11 March 2018

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