Itsalonglongroad clears the last under Shane O'Callaghan© Photo Healy Racing
Itsalonglongroad registered a ninth career success and a fourth at Tramore, as he made all in the Pickardstown Handicap Chase.
The versatile Charles Coakley-trained nine-year-old was placed on two of his last three starts and fitted with a visor for the first time today, he was sent off at 10/1.
Sent straight to the front by Shane O'Callaghan, the Patrick O'Leary owned victor saw his advantage reduced on the approach to two out, with Peckham Springs the challenger.
Ridden before the last, the winner responded generously for pressure and stretched clear on the run-in, going on to score by seven lengths.
Dermot McLoughlin was responsible for the second and third, with Peckham Springs (5/1) finishing four lengths in front of stable companion Finnians Row (9/2f).
"We were a little bit worried about the ground. It suits the front-runner here as they can cut the corners. I'm based in Killarney and it took a while to come up here today but it was worth it in the end," Coakley said.
O'Leary added: "The last day at Clonmel we tried to give him a bit of cover to see would he settle, but he didn't want to know about it.
"We put the visor on him today and we said we would give this a crack. We were expecting better ground, we weren't expecting that much rain to come, but when we were after driving so far we said we would keep coming.
"He was due another win after hitting the crossbar a few times lately. That's his 88th run today and the visor definitely helped him. He'd nearly be watching you passing the stands without the visor and he'd just do enough, but today he fought back when challenged and went on again. That wasn't happening before.
"We will try him in the visor for a few times now before giving him a break. We will keep him over obstacles and we'll see where it takes us.
"He is so versatile that you can pick a race for him every week. Coming here today I was looking at Thurles on November 2nd for him and you never think of anything happening because he is so good after his races. He will be riding out again in two or three days and will be mad to go again.
"We love coming to Tramore and this is one of our favourite tracks. He runs so well here and it's his fourth win at the track."
