Artic Lane and Liam McKenna (near side)© Photo Healy Racing
Frustrating to follow Artic Lane (9/4) gained a first racecourse success at Thurles today as the Declan Queally-trained gelding landed the www.thurlesraces.ie Maiden Hurdle by a nose, under jockey Liam McKenna.
The point-to-point-winning Arctic Cosmos-sired five-year-old had finished a promising second in a hot Leopardstown bumper at last Christmas but was subsequently beaten five times - including at odds of 8/13, 15/8, 11/10 and 2/1, but today came good when getting the better of a battle with Relieved Of Duties to score a last-gasp success
Queally wasn’t present and afterwards McKenna commented "we just couldn't shake off Jack (Kennedy, on runner-up Relieved Of Duties) up the straight and I wasn't sure if we had won.
"It was a big help with Willie's horse (C'est Ta Chance) coming out so we were hopeful as he had a lot of placed form. I knew Jack's horse would jump out and gallop so Declan (Queally) said to track him and it all panned out well.
"He looks like he will be nicer over further and going handicapping he could pick his races and will hopefully win a couple. Declan has been very very good to me and we're going well together."
