Westener back after lengthy lay-off

The Westener Boy returns to action in the Surehaul Mercedes-Benz Novice Hurdle at Clonmel today little more than a year after suffering what many feared would be a life-threatening injury in the Thyestes Chase.

Initially The Westener Boy looked very promising when landing a point-to-point and a bumper for Mags Mullins before being purchased by JP McManus, and again showed his talent with an easy win in a beginners chase for Colm Murphy at Navan in December 2012.

He went off a well-backed 4-1 joint-favourite for the following month’s Thyestes, on his handicap debut under Tony McCoy.