McDonagh creeps away to land feature on Stealthy Tom

The Tote Connacht National Handicap Chase was won by the JP McManus-owned Stealthy Tom under a well-judged waiting ride from Mark McDonagh.

Three times a chase winner at Killarney and successful over the banks at Punchestown in February, the blinkered Yeats gelding went third turning into the home straight for the final time and collared gallant front-runner Foxy Jacks between the final two fences.

From there, the 10/3 chance was far from extended to beat Foxy Jacks by a length and a quarter with a further gap of eight lengths back to 16/5 favourite The Abbey in third.

Winning trainer Enda Bolger said: “That was nice, he got a lovely ride from Mark.

“He's a progressive little fella and as I said the last day, I can't wait to get him back to Punchestown again for the La Touche next year.

“Obviously the three miles was what we came for, he only barely fell in at Killarney by a nose over two-and-a-half so the three was going to suit him. He wants nice ground as well.

“We'll follow around these races for a while anyway, while he's in this form.

“He'll get a break over the winter and I'll tune him up then for the spring. That's the plan anyway.”

Quotes from Gary Carson