Panda Boy 'a pleasant surprise' for Brassil

Panda Boy belied a walk in the market to make a winning debut in the two and a half mile maiden hurdle at Punchestown.

The five-year-old grey gelding was very easy to back from a morning price of 12/1 to an SP of 33/1.

Ricky Doyle sent him into third at the penultimate flight as the pair began to reel in Chink of Light and Il Courra

The latter cracked in the final quarter of a mile as Panda Boy improved to second. He got on terms with Chink Of Light jumping the last and was soon driven into a narrow lead by Doyle.

He came home strongly to increase the winning margin to four and a half lengths. 66/1 outsider Chink Of Light took the runner-up berth to reward Tote Exacta punters with €2122.30 for a euro. Clay Rogers was another length and a half further away in third at 9/1.

Trainer Martin Brassil said: “That was a pleasant surprise. I’ve been waiting all winter to get a bit of nice ground to run him as he’s just a big, leggy, weak horse and is really only after starting to furnish the last six weeks.

“It’s hard to know what you will meet in these maiden hurdles and maybe we were lucky to come across a more moderate one.

“His future is probably over fences and he’s by a sire who gets stayers, Valirann.

“It’s lovely for the owners. Andy Geraghty bought this horse at the sales for his cousin Pat McBennett and Enda Buckley.

“We’ll find another hurdle race before the end of the season and see what that tells us.”

Additional reporting by Alan Magee