Burke-Ott off the mark on Pana To Milan

Pana To Milan (12/1) gave Luke Burke-Ott his first racecourse success when staying on strongly in the qualified riders' handicap chase at Thurles.

The Sageburg mare travelled well to lead on the approach to the home bend and was still forging on well in the final quarter of a mile with one fence to jump.

She cleared the last, but pecked upon landing which opened the door slightly for Moonlight Getaway However, Burke-Ott asked his mount for more and she bounded away in the closing stages to put six and a-half lengths on the 7/2 favourite who had to settle for second. Rochestown kept on at the one pace to come through for third at 9/2, a further 12 lengths adrift.

Trainer Michael Winters said: "This mare has been fancied all her life, so we were sick of following her. We jumped her over fences two days ago when the young fella (Burke-Ott) rode her and this was his first ride over fences on the track. 

"Luke has a future if he can get out there and be riding plenty of work - he schooled the other day with Mikey O'Connor, Chris O'Donovan and other experienced lads."

He added: "We ourselves moved to my late uncle's place recently and are finally finishing up the move this summer. We will be more low-key and have a permit in the future and have no choice as the bad point-to-pointers are worth nothing.

"We also got unlucky with some young horses we bought from the sales which went wrong. We have very few horses for anything, but there is beauty in having a permit as you can swap out the bad ones. 

"I'd say my daughter Laurie will take eventually out the permit in time and between herself and my son Timmy, there's enough for both." 

Boherbuoy born Burke-Ott, brother of Andy Burke-Ott who won this race last year, said: "I'm 18 and I ride out regularly for Mick (Winters). The race worked out almost exactly how I had planned it in my head so it was great."

This was Pana To Milan's first victory over fences to go with a hurdle success from Fairyhouse in January last year.

Additional reporting by Tom Weekes