Celebration time for Cotter with one-two in sprint handicap

Kieran Cotter has been training horses since 1996 but the Monasterevin-based trainer had celebrated only 11 winners and had still to break his duck for the current campaign before bringing Polly Douglas and Dash D'Or to Navan for the Club Active Gym Handicap.

It might have been only a 5f handicap for moderate horses rated between 45 and 70 but Cotter's achievement in sending out the first two in the 21-runner contest should not be underplayed. This was a terrific training performance from a man who was working with a string of six or seven for most of the summer.

"It's a great result. We thought coming here that the only dangers to Polly or Dash were each other," said Cotter.