Enter The Indian (nearside) was too strong for Volkis O'Blue in the closing stages© Photo Healy Racing
Niki O'Shea (out injured for a fair amount of time in the interim) rode his first winner since early last year when guiding Enter The Indian (backed in from 14s in the offices earlier today) to success in the TipperaryRaces.com Handicap Hurdle.
Winning trainer Aidan Howard and O'Shea had a promising runner in Hansupfordetroit earlier on the card and here Enter The Indian took it up from a fair way out.
The nibbled-at Volkis O'Blue (16s into 10s) came there with a good looking challenge up the straight and Enter The Indian seemed quite vulnerable when 'running down' the last.
However the successful eight-year-old son of Indian Rocket, six times successful in the past, and back down to a winnable mark over flights, found more on the run-in to prevail by half a length.
The pair left outsider Temple Castle twenty two lengths further back in third whilst top-weight Bean Chroi Bhriste made a nice return to action in fourth. Derinlaur the favourite and gamble of this event (8s this morning into 9/2) helped to make the pace here but he had no more to offer when headed and eventually faded back into sixth place. (TW & EM)
