Quirky and talented Gordon Bennett remains on the up with Joe McGrath victory

Saturday: Curragh

One of the 'bubbling under' stories of the season had been the progress of sprint handicapper Gordon Bennett, but it is a secret no longer after he bolted to victory in the William Hill Joe McGrath Handicap.

The four-year-old's cosy success suggested he might be more than a handicapper and he became the biggest winner for Curragh trainer Dick Brabazon, better known in the ranks of pre-training having broken in the likes of Snow Fairy.

Brabazon generally does well with the ammunition at his disposal and Gordon Bennett has hardly put a foot wrong since midsummer, winning handicaps at Naas and the Curragh before finishing a close fifth in the competitive Bold Lad Handicap here two weeks ago.

This was different gravy as he quickened up smartly from off the pace and won with a bit in hand, beating useful yardstick Curraheen Princess by a length and a quarter. He has now won off marks of 73, 80 and 90 and looks like he could go into stakes class.

Gary Carroll has ridden him to all those successes and this latest win continued the jockey's good week after his treble at Listowel on Tuesday.

Gordon Bennett has quirks and has been ponied to the start before, but that was not required this time. However, he was accompanied to the races by his companion, ex-racer Korbous, and the 13-year-old was with him when he was being saddled.

Brabazon said: "He's becoming more professional. I only wish I could travel with him because he's getting into that class, but it's not easy to organise with his needs. Luckily enough, there seem to be a pile of races for him at the Curragh, so he might spend his whole career here."

He added: "He's always too short a price because people love his name. The Gordon Bennett route is on the Curragh and he walks across it on the way to his gallop every day.

"There's nothing left for him this season. These sprinters get better with age and we'll spend the winter building him up. Hopefully a lot of the quirkiness is going out of him."

Replays, results and analysis

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