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I gave him a few spins on the Flat to give him confidence because we seemed to sicken him last year. Coming off the point-to-point field Willie (Mullins) gives them a year off and I see why now. They are trained hard to run in four-year-old point-to-points and I probably should have given him time off to mature. Maybe the time through lockdown and different things has helped and maybe things are falling into place for him. He also been racing more on winter ground and that ground seems to suit him. He has a Flat pedigree. hopefully the handicapper is not too hard on him and he can go and be competitive again. Ronan M P McNally, trainer

The Stewards enquired into the apparent improvement in form of Dreal Deal, trained by Ronan M.P. McNally, placed first compared with its past form. Andrew Shaw, IHRB Senior NH Handicapper gave a general summary on this animals poor form during it's racing career and summarised today's performance as being an improvement in excess of 2 stone. In his opinion based on past form he was surprised with the confidence behind todays run. He advised the Stewards that the recent runs under the Rules of Racing were outside his remit. Ronan M.P. McNally, trainer, stated that his yard had been under a cloud since November 2019 and aspergillus had been the diagnosed problem to explain the illness of all his horses. He felt that this condition accounted for their abysmal performances. Following the poor performance by his charge The Jam Man at the Cheltenham Festival in March he turned all his horses out and they lived in the paddocks without being ridden out. He recalled that the reopening of the racing following the lockdown was the time at which he brought his horses back in and started to train them again. Under questioning as to why Dreal Deal ran on the 17th June at Gowran Park in a nine furlong flat race when it appeared from evidence that the animal had only returned to racing following a three to four month layoff, the trainer stated that he was about 80% fit on that occasion. Under further questioning about running this animal under the Rules of Racing, the trainer stated that this was done to sharpen him up. He explained that this animal had been purchased privately having been previously trained as a Point to Pointer having shown good racing form

He felt in hindsight that the animal should have been laid off and allowed to mature following a tough training regime. He was satisfied that his patience with this animal brought him back to good health. He contributed today's improved run to the fact that his horses are now working well with all training done at home or locally. He was unable to account for the strong market support for his charge today and felt that it may have been local support

Evidence was also heard from Mr E.P. O'Brien, todays rider, who had also previously ridden this animal both in his Point to Points when handled by Paul O'Flynn and on three occasions when trained by Mr McNally. He stated that this was a nice young horse when racing in Point to Points but disappointed thereafter. He did not pinpoint any specific reason for the poor performance on the previous occasions that he had ridden him. Having considered the evidence the Stewards referred the matter to the Referrals Committee

GENERAL INFORMATION The following Raceday Stewards acted on behalf of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board at this race meeting: Mr. Laurence McFerran (Chairman), Dr. Paddy Molony, Mr. Joe Collins, Mr. Hugh Hynes

An extended handicap hurdle for four years old and upwards rated 80-102
Weights - Top weight in the original handicap and after the time of declaration shall not be less than 12st and the minimum weight is 9st 12lbs
Penalties - Winner of a hurdle race after calculation of the handicap shall carry 5lb extra for each hurdle race won.