No slip-ups from Benemeade this time

Noel Meade’s Road To Riches may have been outgunned by Henry de Bromhead’s Sizing Europe in the featured PWC Champion Chase at Gowran, but the trainer got a modicum of compensation when his Benemeade pipped de Bromhead’s Clonbanan Lad in the beginners’ chase.

It was a match between the pair with three to jump in this two and a quarter mile race. Benemeade held a slight advantage which he increased to a length after negotiating the second last.

But after the final fence Clonbanan Lad rallied under Davy Russell and got his head narrowly in front with 200 yards to go. Carberry gave Benemeade the office and the six-year-old gelding pulled out all the stops to get back up by a head at 3/1. Clonbanan Lad just failed in his bid to justify 9/10 favouritism.

Noel Meade said: “He was unlucky last time when he slipped up. Paul had slipped in the previous race on Blue Cannon and I said to him to let this lad drift off the bend.

“When he slipped up [at Navan last Saturday] I said to him what happened to the drifting and he said if he'd drifted any further he would have ended up in the hedge!

“He jumps well. He looked around at the last and nearly threw it away. He's a nice horse but doesn't really like heavy ground.”

Additional reporting by Gary Carson