Beach the best in Kilbeggan opener

The Joseph O'Brien trained Miami Beach made the breakthrough on his fourth start, as he took the opener at Kilbeggan this evening, the Book Online At www.kilbegganraces.com Maiden Hurdle.

Bought for a massive 350,000 guineas as a yearling, the son of Invincible Spirit failed to make an impact on his first three outings, finishing seventh to Paddy Buns over the course on his latest try.

Fitted with a tongue-strap for the first time today, he proved easy to back on-course, opening at 7s before going off a 10/1 chance under Niall Madden.

Settled behind the leaders on the outer, the JP McManus owned bay was fifth with a circuit to race.

Pushed along in a closer fourth from two out, he soon improved to disputed the lead, getting to the front shortly after the last, drawing clear to score by five and a half lengths. Tomeric (40s in early shows and from 14s to 12s on-course) finished second under Conor McNamara for his father Eric, while Everlastingpromise (10/3 into 9/4 favouritism) was a neck back in third.

Frank Berry, racing manager to JP McManus, said: "It was an ordinary race and he came on from the last day here and jumped much better. It's nice to see him win a race and we'll see what handicap mark he gets now and see where we go.

"He wasn't bought to end up in Kilbeggan on a Monday night but we are glad to have him and it's nice to win a race with him."

Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes