Gowran joy for Macs
Macs Joy boosted his Smurfit Champion Hurdle claims with a smooth victory in the Red Mills Trial Hurdle at Gowran Park.
The 2-5 shot, trained by Jessica Harrington, led at the third-last flight and was not troubled to win by four and a half lengths to complete a hat-trick on the day for his jockey Barry Geraghty.
Early leader Asian Maze stayed on in eyecatching fashion to claim second place after dropping back when headed, with Ground ball in third and Essex last of the four runners.
VC Bet cut the winner to 4-1 from 5s for the blue riband at Cheltenham, while at the same time trimming the runner-up to 6-1 from 8-1 for the Ladbrokes World Hurdle.
Geraghty had earlier struck on Brutto Facie (13-8) for Mrs Harrington in the Walsh’s Toyota Beginners’ Chase and on Forget The Past (9-4) for Michael O’Brien in the Red Mills Chase.
