'It's great to get a winner again' - Philip Rothwell ends drought with double

Saturday: Cork

Wicklow trainer Philip Rothwell ended a barren spell stretching back to October with a double at Cork's opening fixture of 2023.

Rothwell felt Starzov would have gone close but for a fall three out at Thurles before Christmas, but under Paddy O'Hanlon he made no mistake this time when landing the 2m novice hurdle.

Starzov has winning form over 2m5f and his stamina on this testing ground came into play from the final flight as he ran on strongly to beat staying-on favourite Viceregent by four lengths.

Rothwell said: "I ran Phils Choice in a maiden hurdle at Limerick in November and she ran out through the wing of the second-last when she looked like winning. That seemed to be the start of carnage because everything seemed to be hitting the crossbar on the run-up to Christmas. It's great to get a winner again.

"He probably wants a bit better ground and a bit further, but with the ground being so soft we decided to come back to two miles and see if we could outstay them, and it worked out well."

Weihnachts doubles up

The JP McManus-owned Weihnachts completed the stable double when Simon Torrens partnered him to a third victory in the 2m4f handicap chase.

It was difficult to call him the winner at the second-last, but he stayed on in determined fashion to overhaul Halsafari (third) with joint-favourite Ballyadam Destiny staying on strongly into second.

"He won twice a couple of years ago but went up the handicap and maybe struggled a bit, but he loves that ground and Simon has a great understanding of him," said Rothwell.

"It might be wrong to have favourites, but I get a special kick of having winners in those colours. JP and his family have been hugely supportive of me for a long number of years.

"I would only have one or two for them but they have been very good to me. I really do appreciate it and it is wonderful to have winners for them. He will go for a chase now where there is plenty of muck."

Results, replays and analysis

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