Holden hoping Ex will make right moves in smart company

Enthusiasm is most certainly contagious. Before chatting with Ellmarie Holden, Ex Patriot is just a juvenile who won a maiden hurdle by a length at Fairyhouse and has about as much chance of winning this year's JCB Triumph Hurdle as La Estrella does – and he's ten years too old even to run in the race. By the end of the conversation, the 50-1 Paddy Power are offering is starting to look very appetising indeed.

“He's doing things I've never seen from any horse before. Everything just comes so easily to him,” says the 27-year-old rookie trainer. “He just takes everything in his stride. I remember the first day Rachael [Blackmore] schooled him over hurdles, she jumped off him and had the biggest smile on her face. That smile told a thousand words.”

Ex Patriot used to be a moderate 78-rated middle-distance maiden on the Flat for Ger Lyons. Some would say the €38,000 Holden paid for him at Goffs last November was steep. It looks a steal now.