Herculaneum makes the breakthrough at 16/1

Herculaneum ridden by 7lb claiming amateur Dara McGill, was a 16/1 winner of the the two-mile handicap hurdle.

The Australia gelding, who started off on the Flat with Joseph O'Brien, came from mid-division and challenged two out. The six-year-old had a good tussle with Only One Plan from that point and took the measure of the latter on the run-in to score by half a length.

Runner-up over a longer trip at Punchestown last month, this was the Noel Kelly-trained winner's first success under either code.

McGill (19), for whom it was a second winner under Rules and a first over hurdles, said, “He was always going well and when he jumped the third last I just took a pull on him.

“I swung him wide after turning in and, once he hit the front, he wasn’t doing a lot.”

Quotes from Alan Magee