Tongue tie helps Special Bar

Special Bar bounced back to form in the two mile three maiden hurdle at Naas for trainer Michael O’Hare.

The five-year-old had been below par in his last three outings, but stayed on nicely under Robbie Colgan with a good jump at the last sealing victory by two and three parts of a length at 6/1.

“It’s a lucky track for us. He’ll take a break now as he has a couple of niggly problems. Thank God we got the day out of him!” Michael O’Hare said.

“He has a wind problem and the tongue tie seemed to do the trick, but it is probably something that is only going to get worse.” Italian Chorus took the runner-up berth at 14/1 while Limerick Lane completed the placings at 7/1. Troubled coming off a break of 231 days, was the 9/10 favourite, but he weakened from before three out to trail in eighth.

The O’Hare stable has been operating at a strike-rate of almost 20 per cent at Naas.

(Additional reporting by Gary Carson)