Powell delivers 'a peach' on Rockbury Lad

Jamie Powell was coolness personified on Rockbury Lad (9/1) in Division 1 of the William Hill Proper Betting Handicap at Punchestown.

The pair still had virtually the whole field in front of them approaching the final couple of furlongs, but they travelled noticeably well.

Powell made headway, but still didn't ask the question racing to the final furlong and switched inside for the gap which came. Rockbury Lad powered through it in the closing stages to win a shade snuggly by a length and a-quarter at 9/1. Church Mountain the 7/2 favourite, was beaten into second, a neck up on Skontonovski (9/1).

Michael O'Callaghan said: "It was a lovely ride by Jamie.

“He's a very frustrating horse, he's a horse that always had loads of ability.

“The year he was a two-year-old he was one of the best I had, but he got a fracture and then as a three-year-old got a fracture again. He always remembered.

“Races like that just need to work out for him, where he can be smuggled in and Jamie gave him a peach. The instructions were to ride him for luck and don't get there too soon.

“I was delighted for Jamie and for the lads who own him. They've persevered with him and he's a good fun horse. They are based in New York.

“It's only the second win of his life and he deserves to have had more.

“He wants neither extreme ground-wise and then he's grand for Dundalk during the winter. The handicapper has split his mark, so he's out of the 65s in Dundalk but we'll see what he does.”

Additional reporting by Gary Carson