Le Richebourg jumps to it in Like A Butterfly

Le Richebourg made it two wins from two over fences when justifying favouritism in the Like A Butterfly Novice Chase at Tipperary.

The Joseph O’Brien-trained gelding jumped well when successful on his chasing debut at Listowel last month, and again looked the part in this 2m4f Grade 3 event. Robin Des Foret briefly looked a big threat when looming alongside at the penultimate fence but Le Richebourg showed an immediate response when shaken up by Barry Geraghty.

The 11/8 favourite was two lengths up when his nearest rival made a slight mistake at the last, and he stretched clear on the run-in to score by an impressive seven lengths. The Last Marju made a lot of the running but could find no extra from two out to finish a further four lengths adrift in third.

Winning owner JP McManus' racing manager Frank Berry said, "That was great and he came on a bit from Listowel. He likes that nice ground and Barry said he jumped great and you couldn't ask for much more.

"He was doing his best work at the finish of his races over hurdles so I'd have been surprised if he didn't get 2m4f, and he could even step up further.

"We'll keep to that trip for the minute and we'll look at some of the good races coming up in the next few weeks.

"You could only be pleased with him and he has a good old technique."

(TW & AM)