Thornleigh Frank owned and bred by local man Gerry McPolin, was a well backed winner of the Tote Always SP Or Better Handicap Hurdle in the hands of Aidan Kelly.

Available at 14/1 early this morning, the Yeats gelding was sent off 10/3 favourite for his handicap debut and gave chase to the leaders between the final two flights before sweeping to the front after the last. He quickly settled matters and stayed on well to defeat C'est Quelqu'un by five and a half lengths.

Formerly under the care of Brian Hamilton, the six-year-old is now trained by Mark Fahey who said: "He has been here a couple of times but disappointed a couple of times, so that is the first time he has put it all together.

"We do like him, but we'll see how far he goes. He likes that better ground and he's not that terrible slow at home either.

"The man that owns him (Gerry McPolin) is literally only a few miles across the way and he likes to have a runner at Downpatrick. We are delighted and it is nice to have a winner up here for a local man.

"He hasn't a whole lot of mileage on the clock, I think he had had a few problems and a few issues.

He'll be grand and he could even win a low-graded chase as well too."

Quotes from Michael Graham