Free Flowing, right, jumps the last with Olympic Man © Photo Healy Racing
Free Flowing overturned the odds-on favourite Olympic Man in the opening maiden hurdle over an extended two miles in Galway.
Olympic Man (2/5f) put in an indifferent round of jumping, but did jump four out well to increase his advantage.
That lead was eroded by the penultimate flight which Olympic Man fluffed. Free Flowing soon improved into second from Tom Kelly and came to challenge the leader rounding the home bend.
The pair were locked together over the last and it was Free Flowing who took a narrow lead inside the final furlong for 7lb-claimer Tom Harney and held it to the line as he scored by half a length at 17/2. Third-placed Burru under jockey change Sean O'Keeffe was 13 lengths adrift of this battle at 66/1.
This was a boost for trainer Norman Lee whose stable star Sole Pretender suffered a fatal injury at Ballybrit in August.
He said: He is a fair bit of a horse, but I thought he'd be short (of work) today as he isn't long in. We did all our work at home and he had one day out in the Curragh, but that was it.
"I thought he'd run a cracker and maybe be placed today, but he has stepped right up. He is coming to himself and it probably suited him running fresh.
"Tom is with Ross O'Sullivan and I meet him at the Curragh to ride out when I don't bring my own staff from the yard. He is a good lad who does what he is told - any of those lads deserve chances.Â
"He (Free Flowing) is belonging to a good owner in Eddie Naughton and we have a lot of horses in at the moment. We decided during the summer that we were going to get busier rather than quieter and have 30 horses in - we're going to bomb on."
Morning-price favourite Pour Les Filles, from Gordon Elliott's stable, was ruled out due to a stone bruise.
Additional reporting by Tom Weekes
