Churchroad Prince jumps into a narrow lead at the last© Photo Healy Racing
Jonathan Sweeney's Churchroad Prince enjoyed himself over the extended 2m6f in the McHale Fusin 4 Range Maiden Hurdle at Ballinrobe.
His best performance prior to today was over an extended 2m7f at Punchestown in January when just beaten a neck into second.
The six-year-old gelding made stealthy headway for Michael O'Sullivan to close on hard-at-work Find A Fortune on the bend approaching the final flight.
He led narrowly in jumping it and asserted inside the final furlong. He was far from troubled in coming home by two and a-quarter lengths from a keeping-on Talk In The Park (3/1). Find A Fortune could give no more in third and extended his sequence in his last five maiden hurdles to '22323'.
O'Sullivan said: "He'd a good run the last day where he didn't really get a smooth run around, a typical Punchestown bumper, and he was staying on all the way to the line so I was looking forward to him.
"He's still a bit green and was big and bold over the first couple of hurdles, but after that he was good. He missed the third-last, but was good over the second-last and the last when I needed him, and he won quite snugly.
"This was a big step forward mentally from his first run over hurdles and he's going to come forward again. He's a lovely big chaser in the making."
Additional reporting by Mark Nunan
