Gentleman and grafter Terence O'Brien fights back the tears as Answer To Kayf takes the Troytown for popular Cork combo

And that's why we love this game. Because of days just like this one. When a gentleman and a grafter like Terence O'Brien is choked up and words fail him in trying to sum up the magnitude of winning one of the biggest handicaps of the whole season in Ireland. Magic.

The answer to this year's Bar One Racing Troytown Chase was Answer To Kayf and it was one of those heartwarming tales that keeps us gripped every winter. Two Cork men combined for a glorious triumph with a horse who would have been sold as a youngster had he not had issues. Some things are just meant to be.

John Shinnick did the steering, a 3lb claimer, and he made his race-winning move on the inside up the home straight to outstay his 16 rivals in the €100,000 showpiece of the Navan Racing Festival and earn Answer To Kayf a 50-1 quote for the Grand National with Paddy Power.

"It is a tough game and it's been hard but it's great to deliver in a race like this," O'Brien said, fighting back the tears. He was emotional because it meant so much.

O'Brien continued: "Down the bottom of the back straight, I thought we were in serious trouble. But, in fairness, he is all heart, and Johnny gave him a super ride. I'm delighted for Johnny because he got a five-day suspension and I thought it was very unfair. He appealed it and they allowed him to ride today. I'm thrilled for him. I'm delighted for Denis [O'Connor, owner], too. We've been great friends for a long time.

"Coming up here today, did I think I was going to win? No, I didn't, I would have been thrilled if I was in the first five or six, so it's brilliant for him to have won. We're lucky, because if this horse had stayed sound he would have been sold – that's the irony of it all."

On future plans, O'Brien said: "I'm not sure about the Grand National as he needs plenty of cut in the ground. I would imagine the Thyestes at Gowran would be right up his street."

'He's dynamite' - Townend on Final Demand

The smile said it all. Paul Townend was grinning all the way up the run-in as Final Demand delivered the type of chasing debut that only comes along every couple of years. It was flawless.

It would remind you of the day Sprinter Sacre sauntered around Doncaster, or when Galopin Des Champs put on a proper show on his chasing bow at Leopardstown a few years ago. It looked as though he had been jumping fences all his life.

Of course, Final Demand has a long, long way to go to match the exploits of that duo, and perhaps he never will, but there was something sensational about the way he negotiated his fences in the 2m4½f beginners chase. He was gun-barrel straight. It was effortless. He's now into 6-4 for the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase. That will seem a ridiculous price to some, but would you like laying him?

Final Demand and Paul Townend on their way to victory at NavanCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

"He's dynamite, isn't he?" was the first thing Townend said when he hopped down off the dark and handsome son of Walk In The Park.

Dynamite is the perfect word for him. He pulled 13 lengths clear of a 139-rated hurdler in Wingmen, while the third, Now Is The Hour, ran off a mark of 141 in last year's Irish Grand National. They are not bad horses, but he made them look ordinary.

Willie Mullins said of the performance: "He was just so natural, meeting every fence on the right stride. When he got over the third-last Paul just gave him a squeeze and a shake and he started opening up again. His jumping was just fantastic. It looks like he's the real deal."

He certainly does, Willie. 

Treble for Elliott

It was another cracking day at his local track for Gordon Elliott, who helped himself to a treble, the highlight of which came courtesy of Kalypso’chance in the Grade 3 John Lynch Carpets Monksfield Novice Hurdle.

There were some long faces at Down Royal when he was beaten at 1-5, but he was a different animal up in trip as he stayed on stoutly to beat The Big Clubman by a length and a quarter.

Elliott said of the 3-1 winner: "We were disappointed in him the last day, but I'd say just two miles was too short and a lot of ours just needed the run at that stage. I was probably trying to be clever, splitting them all up in Down Royal.

"I was nervous of running him back so quickly but, in fairness, it was the right decision. He was tough. In fairness to him, he was a different horse there today. You could see the way he was travelling with his head down, he was happy. In Down Royal, his head was in the air and he never jumped. He might go straight to Naas for the Grade 1 in early January now."

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