Ultimate Optimist and Barry O'Neill © Photo Healy Racing
After Vaucelet's last gasp win at Down Royal on Saint Stephen's Day, David Christie and Barry O'Neill enjoyed a much easier winner with Ultimate Optimist in the maiden hunters' chase at Limerick.
Clear leader War Call crashed out in the back straight on the final circuit leaving the winner at the head of affairs. Clear on the home turn, it was only a matter of negotiating the final two fences for the Fame And Glory gelding as he readily accounted for Johngus by a dozen lengths.
The six-year-old had been successful in last three starts in point-to-points, the first of them for Donnchadh Doyle.
Christie said: "We really liked him. He was very weak when we got him but we knew that and Rob James (previous rider) said to me that he could be a nice horse but has taken a lot of time to find himself. Just in the last four or five weeks he has started to get strong.
"He has won two point-to-points for me, now he has won his hunters chase and he is an out-and-out stayer with a bit of class.
"We gave him a bit of work last Monday with Vaucelet and there wasn't too much difference between the two but we were concerned as we hadn't ran him on this ground before.
"I think he will be a top horse and he is also a special horse to me too as the first day he won for me, was the day my father died. He would always be different from the rest for me.
"We will have to have a think about plans now and it is nice after winning with Vaucelet yesterday to sit back and give the whole thing consideration. This horses is only a six year old so we have to try and make him last if we can so I don't want to make any wrong moves with him (regarding running at Cheltenham this year) But I do regard him as top class."
Quotes from Tom Weekes
