'He travelled like a dream and jumped well' - Nurburgring too quick for his rivals in Grade 3 juvenile hurdle

Any mention of Joseph O'Brien seems to come with the comment he does not train many jumpers these days, but a double on the day with Nurburgring and Common Practice brought his tally to three winners for the meeting, the same as champion trainer Willie Mullins.

Owners Bronsan Racing have been particularly well served, with Solness landing them the valuable handicap chase on Saturday and Nurburgring following suit with a decisive win in the Grade 3 Bar One Racing Juvenile Hurdle over two miles.

Nurburgring had not been seen since he was demoted to second for interference after passing the post in front of leading juvenile and recent Newbury winner Wodhooh at Listowel in September. Gelded since then, he still showed some wayward tendencies late on and gave a slight bump to his main rival Kala Conti after the last, but asserted late to win by half a length and this time survived the stewards' inquiry.

Winning rider Richie Deegan said: "He travelled like a dream and jumped well. He had a little look around after the last but he did it well."

Practice proves too good

Common Practice secured a second valuable handicap success of the weekend for O'Brien in the €100,000 Bar One Racing-sponsored Listed 2m handicap hurdle. 

The son of Gleneagles had a first-time tongue-tie added to the cheekpieces worn on his last two starts, and the combination worked a treat as he picked up well on the run to the line under Mark Walsh to beat By Your Side by a length and three-quarters.

JP McManus's racing manager Frank Berry said: "Mark rode him at Naas the last day and he sort of forced him up a bit, so he said he’d change tactics and drop him in and see what happened. It worked out well.

"This trip may have suited him better. He’s been a consistent little horse and it’s nice to see him win one of those. He was given a great ride. There are lots of these valuable handicaps coming up and he can be competitive."

Big day for Flavin

Tramore trainer John Flavin thought he had lost his stable star Street Value when he took a very heavy fall here in April but he made a full recovery and gained redemption with a powerful staying performance under Danny Mullins to land the Listed 3m5½f Porterstown Handicap Chase by three lengths. It was the trainer's biggest win of his relatively short career.

Flavin said: "He took a wicked fall here at Easter and I thought we had lost him when he hit the ground. But he got back up and for him to come and do that on a big day is unbelievable. He deserved that."

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