Soldier battles hard for Michael Purcell victory

The Grade 3 Michael Purcell Memorial Novice Hurdle had escaped Willie Mullins and Ruby Walsh since the victory of Cooldine in 2008, and for lengthy periods of this renewal it looked as if they would have to wait at least another year to claim it, but eventually the Philip Reynolds-owned Tin Soldier came from an unpromising position to claim the prize.

He was struggling to make any impact having lost his place after the fourth last, but the champion jockey was in the mood to persevere and the horse responded to re-pass favourite Moulin A Vent at the last before going on to score by a length.

"He was making heavy weather of it but once Ruby made up his mind for him he made nice progress," said Mullins.