Drumconnor provides a welcome change of luck for Keatley
Drumconnor Lad is one of those horses who only offers sporadic proof of the sort of ability he has. A good summer looked likely for the eight-year-old after he won a decent handicap chase at Down Royal in May but that didn't quite transpire and perhaps his ultimately convincing victory in the 2m4f Carlow Chase is a harbinger of a better winter to come.
Given a good ride by Liam Gilligan, the son of Winged Love, owned by Belfast native David Keys, went in pursuit of the bold-jumping front-runner Last Goodbye from the fourth last and eventually wore him down, staying on well from the final fence to score by three-and-three-quarter lengths.
"I'm nearly at the North Pole, I'm that cold a trainer," joked trainer Adrian Keatley, who enjoyed his first winer since June.
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