Chinook Run (Mark Bolger) pings the last in division one of the handicap hurdle© Photo Healy Racing
North Co. Dublin trainer Peter Cluskey ended a winless gap stretching back nearly five years when Chinook Run landed division one of the 2m2f handicap hurdle at Wexford.
Mark Bolger had the lightly-raced nine-year-old gelding up with the pace throughout, leading before halfway and the field were well stretched approaching the straight.
The 14/1 chance (paid nearly 30/1 on the Tote) kept on well under pressure to beat Pennys Tune (5/1) by a length and a quarter, with 3/1 favourite News Show a further two and three quarter lengths back in third.
Cluskey said, “He’s been knocking on the door his last couple of runs. We were giving him gaps between his races but we’ve got a string of runs into him this year and it’s worked out well.
“We have been waiting on the good ground for him, and we’ll look for something similar.”
Additional reporting by Donal Murphy