Huckleberry Rock wins under champion conditional

Huckleberry Rock fended off Arrycan at the end of the extended two mile five furlong trip in the second split of the opportunity handicap hurdle at Ballinrobe.

The couple of lengths that Huckleberry Rock went on by before the last stood to him as he wasn't fluent there and soon had a staying-on Arrycan in his wing mirrors.

The red and white colours of Arrycan kept inching closer but Huckleberry Rock saw it out in game fashion by half a length to justify 10/3 favouritism. Runner-up Arrycan was a 9/2 chance and was two lengths clear of Added Bonus at 9/1.

“Jack (Foley) gave him a good ride. He really galvanised him," trainer Shane Crawley said.

“He’d been running at the premier tracks but he handled the sharper course here.

“The ground was very soft in Navan the last day and, even though his dam loved it like that, it could be that he prefers a bit of nicer ground. They put plenty of water on here and the ground was in great shape.

“He’s entered in Cork on Saturday but I wouldn’t be afraid to let him out to grass now. He had a hard enough race there.”

Champion conditional Foley has one more winner left on his 5lb claim.

The Stewards interviewed J.B. Foley, rider of Huckleberry Rock, concerning his use of the whip in the latter stages of this race. Evidence was heard from the rider concerned. In his evidence, J.B. Foley stated that his mount was inexperienced, was off the bridle three hurdles out and was trying to pull himself up. He added that he used the whip once for corrective purposes and later on gave a few light hits to make his mount concentrate. Having viewed a recording of the race and considered the evidence the Stewards were of the opinion that J.B. Foley was in breach of R10(3)(g) by using his whip with excessive frequency. Having taken his previous record into consideration and pursuant to the provisions of R10(6)(a), the Stewards suspended J.B. Foley for six racedays.

Additional reporting by Mark Nunan