Lake Chad submerges his rivals

Lake Chad travelled all over his rivals before cruising home in the first division of the 80-95 two-mile handicap in Limerick.

The six-year-old grey gelding had been off for more than two years when he reappeared to be beaten just over a length and a half into third at Clonmel last month. The winner of that race franked the form with another victory in Cork.

He was swinging away on the bridle in a close third turning in and eased into the lead under a motionless Mikey Hamill after jumping two out.

He wasn't fluent in the lead at the last but Hamill merely had to nudge him along to scoot in by a facile four and a half lengths at an easy-to-back 9/4. Peace Party had no answers in second at 13/2 and was half a length in front of Eagle Roque (40/1 to 18/1). Strong Roots was backed down to 85/40 favourite but was never a factor in ninth.

Phillip Fenton said: “It was a nice performance. Over the first three hurdles he was making ground. He jumps particularly well, and he hasn’t an awful lot of it done, but he’s pretty natural. Two miles is his trip, as he seems to have a bit of pace.

“I was pleased with his first run (at Clonmel, after a long lay-off). He had a leg, and that’s why he didn’t appear. He’s declared for Thurles on Thursday, and I’m sure if he’s alright he’ll pull out on Thursday.”

Lake Chad is a large, shallow lake in Central Africa.

Additional reporting by Tom Weekes