Championship leader hits 50 wins

Jack Kennedy moved to 50 winners this season when combining with trainer Gordon Elliott for a double today, completing the feat in Fairyhouse's four-runner 2023 Fairyhouse Membership Hurdle on Eric Bloodaxe (4/6f).

A Grade 2 winner at Limerick last Christmas, the son of Saint des Saints today made his seasonal reappearance and had little trouble beating runner-up Captain Conby by two and three parts of a length.

Both men had won the earlier race with Caldwell Diamond and following the second success, Elliott said “he's a hard horse to get fit, he's massive and Jack said there is plenty of improvement in him: he gave a good blow.

“He does everything easy at home and I'd say he'll come on from it. I was thinking about going chasing with him but just found that race and he could now go chasing, he's a grand horse.

“It's Jack's 50th winner of the season so it's great.”

It was Gold Cup winner Kennedy's fifth half-century and he leads the Jockeys Championship by 14 from Danny Mullins, with Keith Donoghue (with 30 wins) and Rachael Blackmore (30) joint-third and last year's winner Paul Townend sixth (27).

Quotes from Gary Carson