Road grinds out victory for Blackmore

Raglan Road ground out success on his handicap debut when opening his account at Naas this afternoon.

The Henry de Bromhead-trained gelding was produced to challenge the front-running Kilbree Warrior after the second last, in the two-mile-three handicap hurdle, but had to work to get the better of her.

Having led away from the final flight the JP McManus-owned son of Soldier Of Fortune had to dig deep for Rachael Blackmore late on to hold the rallying mare at bay by half a length.

Racing manager Frank Berry said of the 11/2 winner afterwards:- “It was workmanlike, I thought the second was going to be hard to get past.

“It took a while for the penny to drop jumping-wise but he's getting the hang of it now.

“We'll stick to races like that for the time being with him.

“He had a few nice runs in maidens and then disappointed a little bit, maybe the ground in Gowran was a bit too heavy for him.

“That was nice there, he got a grand run around and she gave him a lovely ride.

“He was tough to get by the leader, when she's on song that mare takes a bit of pegging back.”