Court & McNamara just hold off Corrick The Andrew McNamara ridden Courtncatcher just held off the late surge of Corrick Bridge, to land the Manley Construction Handicap Hurdle for trainer Patrick Duffy. The six-year-old son of Catcher In The Rye won at Roscommon in June, and then finished second there on his next start behind Landero. However he disappointed on his last outing at Galway, pulling up in the race won by Pyrus Gold Wind, and he was sent off at 11/1 this evening. Having chased the leaders in the early stages, he was second at the halfway stage, and was ridden to lead two flights from home. He kept on well from there, and was all out on the run-in to hold off the late challenge of Corrick Bridge by a nose. The runner-up, for Tony Martin and Paul Townend was returned at 10/1, while the front-running Ocean Bright (7/1), ran another game race, finishing two and a quarter lengths back in third under Conor Maxwell for Dermot McLoughlin. The Gordon Elliott trained Jamsie Hall was sent off the 4/1 favourite, backed from an opening show of 6/1 on-course, but he fell at the fifth. Andrew McNamara said afterwards: "He held on! He got to the front sooner than I wanted. "Crossing the road (on the run-in) he went a bit left and gave away his advantage. "We thought he’d go better on this ground than at Galway." Additional reporting by Michael Graham
