GILGAMBOA showed Grade 1 potential when winning a prestigious Grade B handicap hurdle at Leopardstown on only his fourth start, and he got that top-level win at Fairyhouse last Sunday when beating The Tullow Tank by half a length in the Grade 1 Ryanair Gold Cup Novice Chase over two and a half miles.

The Kieran McManus-bred seven-year-old is trained by Enda Bolger, he carries the famous J.P. McManus colours, and this triple graded winner is one of a growing number of stars for the Group 1 star and Castle Hyde Stud stallion Westerner (by Danehill).

Indeed, with his pedigree one could say that he had Grade 1 potential from the time he was born as he is out of Hi Native (by Be My Native), a full-sister to the prolific Grade 1 star Native Upmanship.

He won the Champion Novice Hurdle at Punchestown, the Denny Gold Medal Novice Chase at Leopardstown, the Powers Gold Cup at Fairyhouse, two runnings of the Punchestown Chase, and two runnings of the Melling Chase at Aintree, and he is the standout performer among a string of notable winners in his family.

His half-sister River Thyne (by Good Thyne), for example, is the dam of the Great Yorkshire Chase winner A Glass In Thyne (by Glacial Storm), and his dam’s siblings include Glassilaun (by Prince Hansel), a blacktype scorer over hurdles who was placed in the Supreme Novices Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Their half-sister Hourly Rate (by Menelek) won a bumper and once over hurdles but is better known as the dam of the high-class Time For A Run (by Deep Run) and of the Grade 3 scorer Aunt Aggie (by Be My Native), and she is also the grandam of the Grade 3-winning chaser Adarma (by Topanoora).

Gilgamboa is bred to acheive anything, and it seems unlikely that this Grade 1 success will remain his only one.