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Donal Murphy

Donal Murphy

Court & McNamara just hold off Corrick

Thu 22nd Aug 2013, 19:56

Courtncatcher just holds off the late challenge of the grey Corrick BridgeCourtncatcher just holds off the late challenge of the grey Corrick Bridge
© Photo Healy Racing

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

About Donal Murphy
Donal graduated from Maynooth University in 2010 with a BBS in Equine Business and since attained a diploma in Sports Journalism from Dublin Business School. He holds a variety of roles in the horse racing industry, reporting for the Press Association and p2p.ie, while also working for SIS and the Tote. From Wexford, he is a keen runner and has completed over 100 parkruns at various locations around the country.