First winner for Wexford teenager Berry as John Adams rules in closing contest
Sunday: Punchestown
John Adams was the second American president but for 19-year-old rider Ross Berry the name will be forever remembered as his first winner.
The Wexford teenager, son of trainer John who was a three time champion point-to-point rider, was only having his first ride over fences but you would never have guessed it as he got John Adams into a lovely rhythm out in front and kept enough in the tank to keep Exit To The West at bay.
The feat was all the more admirable considering John Adams had unseated his rider on three of his previous four outings.
Berry said: "That’s my first winner. It was my first ride over fences too. I ride out three days a week with Henry de Bromhead and three days with Colin Bowe as well.
"That was unreal. I thought this day would never come and you always have that doubt in the back of your mind. I tried to jump off in front and ended up second or third. Coming down the hill he started to run away again and I knew he was in my hands then. I knew I had him where I wanted."
Smooth landing for Jet
Bob Olinger and Dysart Dynamo grabbed all the headlines on the day but the performance of Supreme Jet in the second division of the 2m maiden hurdle was easy on the eye.
Barry Browne sent the 5-2 favourite straight to the front and he never saw another rival on the way to a 17-length win. His jumping, in particular, was impressive.
Winning trainer Oliver McKiernan said: "I’d say he got bogged down in the ground at Limerick. It was very deep, holding ground there. He has a nice bit of experience jumping which I thought might be a help to him if we were going to make plenty of use of him."
Stubborn Hiaou denies Goven
Goven touched a low of 1.03 in running on the exchanges but he couldn't find a way past the stubborn Hiaou in the first division of the 2m maiden hurdle.
The 11-8 favourite fought back tenaciously under Jack Kennedy to score by three-quarters of a length and may have earned himself a trip to Cheltenham.
Gordon Elliott said: "He did everything wrong and Jack said he needed a better gallop. The one thing I like about him is he’s gutsy and he couldn’t pull him up after the line. He’ll have a few more runs this year and he could be on the Cheltenham team."
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Published on 16 January 2022inReports
Last updated 19:10, 16 January 2022
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