Noble Emperor a star in the making

If we saw a star of the future in action at Limerick yesterday then it was surely the Tony Martin-trained Noble Emperor in the INH Stallion Owners' EBF Maiden Hurdle.

The six-year-old made his debut at Navan in a bumper last month and clearly not too much was expected, as he bolted in at odds of 16-1.

Noble Emperor was then bought by J P McManus and it looks a shrewd purchase, on the evidence of what we saw here. He travelled beautifully through the contest for Mark Walsh and was hardly out of second gear to ease ahead going to two out and score by 13 lengths.