Buddy One off the mark on his fourth start

Buddy One s resolution couldn't be questioned as he saw off his rivals in the extended two and a half mile maiden hurdle.

As racecourse commentator, Jerry Hannon, said, the front-runner was there to be shot at between the last two flights but the six-year-old gelding stuck to his task well and forged home strongly under Jack Gilligan to score by three and a quarter lengths.

The 7/1 shot beat Harvard Guy (17/2) with 6/4 favourite El Capitaine another length and a half back in third.

“It was a super performance and the ride Jack gave him was brilliant, he just left the horse alone and let him jump,” said handler Paul Gilligan.

“He was meant to run over Christmas in a similar race to this at Limerick but all our horses went down (with illness) that week.

“To come back here and get a winner is fantastic. He's a grand horse.

“He ran a very good race in Navan and I said with any improvement from that he'd win.

“He was one of the sickest horses I had over Christmas so it's fantastic to come back and do this.

“He's rated 102 and he's in again on Tuesday. He'll be declared in the morning but that doesn't mean he will run.

“He's owned by Tom Quinn, John Joe McGrath and Eddie Lynch. I met them in Ballinrobe one day and they said they'd buy a horse. We bought this horse from Martin Cullinane and he's a right horse for them to have a bit of fun with.”

This was Buddy One's fourth start and he had shown improvement on his third start to finish sixth at Navan in November.

Additional reporting by Gary Carson