Irish Thistle puts experience to good use

Irish Thistle stayed on best to comprehensively win the concluding two mile bumper at Navan with Mark Enright in the saddle.

Enright, a seven-pound claimer, made good use of his spare ride as he deputised for the unwell Robbie McNamara.

The five-year-old son of Luso had four previous bumper outings and his experience on soft ground stood him in good stead.

One eyecatching piece of form saw him finish fifth, just over 15 lengths behind runner-up Champagne Fever on St Stephen's Day at Leopardstown. That one went on to win the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham.

Irish Thistle forged ahead inside the final furlong to win by four and a half lengths at 7/1 from second favourite You Must Know Me (2/1). Some Drama belied his 33/1 odds in coming home third after being off the track for almost a year. Magic Spear the 7/4 favourite, couldn't go with the front three when the race heated up. He finished fourth.

Winning trainer Harry Rogers said: “He deserved that as his runs have been good. A bit of time helped him as well.

“He'll make a nice two-and-a-half mile hurdler. I might put him away now as he's a horse that with a bit of time might get better.

“The young lad was very good on him. For a lightweight he was very strong and good value for the 7lb.”

Michael Graham