NEWCOMER Hello Neighbour brought off a gamble in the Enjoy Hospitality At Navan Racecourse Maiden over a mile and six furlongs for trainer Gavin Cromwell. From as big as 28/1 in the morning, his odds tumbled down to 9/2 on the off.

The Harzand gelding travelled well to pick up the lead a quarter of a mile out from Double Agent. The latter kept at it, but couldn’t match the winner, who passed the post with half a length in hand for owner Anthony F O’Callaghan.

Cromwell said: “He has a great mind and I was very surprised that he was keen early, but look I suppose first run.

“He pulled for probably a mile and a quarter in the race and still finished. He did well, as he probably got there plenty soon enough and then he idled.

“He could come back to a mile and a half. It wasn’t my intention to start him off over a mile and six, but I did want to start him off on a nice track. I probably would have preferred if it was a mile and a half today, but there’s not that many maidens at those distances.”

Solid performance

Robbies Rock, also trained by Gavin Cromwell, got off the mark at 13/2 in the NavanRacecourse.ie Handicap over the same trip.

He found for pressure in third a furlong down and soon grabbed the lead. From there, he galloped on relentlessly to draw four and a quarter lengths clear for owner Sean Costine.

“He’s a very big, raw horse and hopefully there is a bit of improvement there,” Cromwell said.

“For a horse that has had a few runs, he’s still fairly raw, but he went to the line well. The rail was a help to him.”

LEIGH Roche was also at the double and his first winner came on Dermot Weld’s Sidiza (8/1) in the Navan Racing Festival November 16th and 17th Fillies Maiden.

The race didn’t quite go to plan, as she dwelt and was keen, but she made good headway to lead a furlong from home. She soon edged left and was driven home by half a length in the colours of H H Aga Khan.

The jockey said: “She did things wrong, but I knew turning in, once I got out, that I was always going to win.

“She has ability, but just raw and green. She ran around a lot the last furlong and a half and, even when she got to the front, she pulled up and didn’t do a stroke.

“I think she is going to be a lovely filly and I’d imagine they would keep her in training for next year. She’s a filly that would be better as a four-year-old.”

Doubled

Plunkett Street beat the 4/6 favourite Keilah by a neck in the Navan Handicap over an extended 10 furlongs. The 6/1 shot went on over a furlong out and took the honours under Roche for the Ryan and O’Meara Partnership.

Trainer Michael O’Meara said: “To be honest, we were kind of too far out the last day in Clonmel. She (third-placed in Clonmel, Keilah) went on to win and be second, so we thought we would be thereabouts. He was idling there towards the end and once she (Keilah) came to him, he picked it up again.”

Roche picked up a four-day suspension for frequency with the whip aboard the winner.

THERE was an incredible finish to the Kilberry Handicap over five furlongs, with six horses finishing almost in a line across the track. It was Tom McCourt’s Inishmot Prince who got the verdict by a head for his first victory on turf to go with nine on the polytrack in Dundalk.

The 9/1 shot stayed on strongly for James Ryan to get up near the line for owner, Oliver Curtis.

McCourt said: “I would have been disappointed if he got beaten the form he was in at home. He is 21lb lower on grass than he is on all-weather, but he needed every yard of it. Six (furlongs) up the Curragh in one of those handicaps if the ground stays dry and then back to Dundalk.”

Bucaneer’s Spirit has proved to be a shrewd pick up for Jack Davison, who he struck again for in the Navan Racecourse Handicap over a mile.

The 6/4 favourite tracked the leaders and hit the front under Ronan Whelan a furlong and a half down. Kiki Roberts came at him in the closing stages, but was half a length in arrears at the line.

Davison said: “Two wins, a second and a third for us from four runs - so all is good. He is improving, physically as well. He is not the finished article. Hopefully, the best is yet to come.”

Bucaneer’s Spirit was claimed out of a Dundalk claimer in July and scored in the colours of Staton Flurry.

Rocking home

Joseph O’Brien’s Oxford Rock justified 4/9 favouritism in the www.navanracecourse.ie Maiden over five furlongs.

The Starspangledbanner juvenile disputed the lead and took over a quarter of a mile out. Turners Cross came at her inside the final furlong, but Oxford Rock saw him off by half a length for owner Michael O’Flynn.

Jockey Wayne Hassett said: “I just kept the hold of her head the whole way and he (O’Brien) said within the last furlong to send her along.

“I’m happy with the five (furlongs), but she seemed today she could get six - she just kept galloping.”