'Steamer' Catch The Beast blows the field away

Catch The Beast s price collapsed from 20/1 to 5/2 favourite for the extended 2m3f handicap hurdle at Punchestown and the money proved very well founded.

Eddie Cawley's five-year-old Walk In The Park gelding had been lightly raced without troubling the judge and got in here off bottom-weight on this step up in trip.

He travelled smoothly in third for Phillip Enright and the pair closed in second rounding the home bend.

Enright took a lead from Dancing Jeremy for as long as he could before guiding his mount to the front before the last.

He popped it well and ran on well to post a decisive 10-length success from Dancing Jeremy (3/1). Extrapolation completed the placings at 5/1.

Trainer Eddie Cawley said: “We always thought he was a nice horse and we bred him as well. He was born the night of the famous storm, the Beast From The East, and we nearly lost him.

“I was watching the mare on camera and next thing a wind ripped through the place and we lost all our power and I couldn’t get the generator working.

“The foal was half out and was on his last breath when we got to him. That’s how he got his name from the storm.

“The longer trip probably helped him today, although Phillip said there's no need to go up any further in trip. His jumping is brilliant and he quickened up well.”

Additional reporting by Alan Magee