With three hurdles to jump it would have taken a brave man to bet in-running on the winner of the two mile handicap hurdle as the whole field remained tightly bunched, however, it was Pivot Bridge who showed the best turn of foot to land the spoils. Blue Hell set sail for home between the last two flights, but was readily picked off by Pivot Bridge who jumped the last in front and was kept up to his work to score by three lengths at odds of 25/1 for trainer Ado McGuinness.

Winning jockey David Splaine said: “He was on the bridle going to the second last and when I gave him a squeeze he flew in. He only had 10 stone on his back [before the jockey’s claim]. I was on him at Gowran when he won on soft ground and we always thought that he would be better on nice ground.” Desertmore Stream (8/1 in the morning to 9/2) came through for second with Brian O’Connell doing the steering. Blue Hell, the 7/2 favourite, was third while Hurler And Farmer completed the placings in this 20-runner contest.

After that Gowran Park win, Pivot Bridge was 15th of 19 in a Punchestown handicap hurdle in October. He was returning from a break of 186 days over jumps (he did run in a flat handicap in Limerick on April 10th).

Additional reporting by Alan Magee