Unoccupied defeats Byrnes gamble

Unoccupied foiled a gamble on the Charles Byrnes trained Whiskey Hall (100/30 – 2/1f) in the Newton Abbot Racecourse Handicap Hurdle at Limerick today, winning for trainer Eoghan O'Grady and leading conditional jockey Mark Enright.

The winner led from four out and stayed on under pressure in the straight to hold off the challenge of Whiskey Hall by 12 lengths.

The runner-up was having his first run for a year having, almost identically, failed to land a gamble when second in the corresponding race last year.

After the win, O'Grady stated “he's in at Mallow (Cork) on Thursday in a handicap hurdle and his 4lbs penalty for winning here will leave him just one pound out of the handicap. Provided he comes out of this race well, he'll go there next.”