Indian Icon (in the wrong colours) clears the last under Mark Enright© Photo Healy Racing
Indian Icon justified strong market support, as he took the opener at Killarney, the Micheal Doyle Memorial Maiden Hurdle.
The Dessie Hughes trained colt had disappointed over hurdles on a couple of occasions in the past, but on this his seventh try he finally got it right.
Available at 5/2 this morning, the French bred son of Indian Rocket opened on-course at 13/8 before being backed into 6/5 favouritism at the off.
Ridden by Mark Enright he went clear after the last, going on to score by two and a half lengths. Irish Bulletin (20/1), for Eric McNamara and Mark Walsh, ran a nice race to take second, on just his third start over hurdles, while Elishpour was a further three and a half lengths back in third under Danny Mullins for Tony Martin at 12/1.
McKinley, under Ruby Walsh for Willie Mullins, who drifted from 7/4 this morning out to 11/4 at the off, finished a well-beaten fourteenth.
Dessie Hughes said afterwards: “We forgot the colours today so he won in different colours.
"He was entitled to win and he enjoyed that ground. He will go to Ballinrobe in a fortnights time for a four-year-old winners of one."
Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes
