Lieber Nicc proves too strong for jolly at Wexford

Lieber Nicc stayed on strongly from the back of the final flight to land the opening Wexford Maiden Hurdle at the south east track.

Third on his reappearance at Clonmel in May, the five-year-old stepped up on that effort to land a first career success here.

Former Listed flat winner Sunchart was sent off 6/4f and those that took those odds would have been quite content as the Andrew Slattery trained gelding led travelling easily after five out.

Holding a slender lead turning to face the second last, he was going marginally better than In The Trenches with Lieber Nicc pushed along back in third.

However, the latter responded well to Rachael Blackmore, getting a nice run through on the inside to go second at the final flight. Leading soon after, the 9/4 chance showed the greater stamina to come home a-length-and-a-quarter ahead of Sunchart.

Henry de Bromhead said: “Sadly the Schuster’s aren’t here today but part of the crew are. It’s great that he has won, he deserved to win one and hopefully he’ll progress now. I think the better ground helped him, he has got a bit of pace and is a nice horse.

"We have no major plan for him, but I’d say Listowel could be on the cards. The Schuster’s have a big connection with Listowel, so I’d say if there is something suitable there, that’s where he’ll go. We’d like to find something in between as well.”

Additional reporting by Donal Murphy