Alfie opens account over hurdles

All About Alfie recorded his fourth career win but his first over hurdles when benefitting from a powerful drive by Brian Hayes to land the Follow Us On Facebook Handicap Hurdle at Cork.

All three previous wins were under the care of Tom Foley but owner Tom Donohoe took over the training of the dual purpose seven-year-old earlier this year.

The son of Antonius Pius has shown a liking for testing ground in the past when successful on the flat both here and at Gowran Park (his other win being on the all-weather at Dundalk). Analyse That looked set to record a 33/1 shock when about four lengths clear approaching the final flight.

However All About Alfie (14/1) responded gamely on the run-in to Hayes' urgings, and got up close home to score by half a length. The Mad Well was a further three and a half lengths back in third, with Mackey Boy in fourth.

Donohoe, "I was a bit worried about the ground but he'd won on it here before. We'll probably find something similar for him again, and he could go over fences."