Bullet on the rise

Bryan Cooper had it pretty easy in the Fitri Hay silks on Argocat at Limerick on Sunday. The young Kerry man might have expected to work harder for the same owner on Gold Bullet in the Henry Shefflin & Ashgrove Stables Handicap Hurdle at Gowran. As it turned out another comfortable success was achieved.

Tom Taaffe trains the pair and he'll doubtless have been delighted to see his expensive purchase Gold Bullet climb another rung of the ladder on his handicap bow in this two and a half miler.

Cooper was good on the successful grey here, racing on the front-end. His mount was still going well in the straight, he skipped over the last two hurdles before easing away to defeat Gates Of Rome by two lengths.

Taaffe said: "That was a fair effort. I said at Limerick when he won that I was concerned about the heavy ground and he picked up well today.

"It's always tricky going into your first handicap but he was schooling very well.

"We'll discuss it with the owners and we'll either go to Punchestown or put him away.

"There's a two and a half mile handicap on the Saturday or a novice race there for him.

"He'll go chasing next season in any case." (TW & EM)