In-form Liam Burke strikes with The Grey Knight

Just three days after saddling My Murphy to record a popular success in the coveted Thyestes Chase at Gowran Park, handler Liam Burke continued his present purple patch by sending out The Grey Knight to record a bloodless success in the five-year-old geldings’ maiden at yesterday’s Dungarvan Harriers point-to-point meeting at Kilossera.

The fixture was staged on a new figure-of-eight type course and it went through some parts of the old track at Kilossera, where racing has been run since 1942. The course appeared to ride well with stamina however being at a premium on the heavy underfoot surface.

The Grey Knight (5/2), absent since finishing down the field in a Tipperary maiden hurdle last April, seemed to revel on the ground conditions and he made all the running in the hands of Richie Harding. The winning son of Daylami gave his supporters some cause for concern by erring two out, but he soon readily pulled clear of toiling runner-up Baracalu to oblige by a distance with the pair being the only finishers from the seven runners that set out.