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Gary Carson

Gary Carson

Star overcomes injuries to score

Wed 18th Feb 2015, 17:07

Kentucky Star leads over the lastKentucky Star leads over the last
© Photo Healy Racing

Kentucky Star made a winning start in handicap company when scoring for 'Sneezy' Foster and Adrian Heskin at Punchestown this afternoon.

The 16/1 shot was held up in the early stages of the 2m6f contest before taking closer order from the fourth last.

He moved into contention turning for home and claimed long-time leader Samanntom on the run to the last.

Heskin kept the French-bred going on the run-in and he asserted in the closing stages for a four-and-three-quarter length success over the 9/4 joint-favourite. The other joint-favourite Best Of Three finished fifth after failing to pick up in the straight.

"He's a horse that's had a lot of problems," revealed Foster afterwards.

"He's had ulcers and got a seriously bad cut at Fairyhouse. He was in the clinic for a month and stood in his box for nearly six months.

"He stays well and he'll jump a fence."

Samanntom had a rather unusual start as he came from a long way behind the field at the tapes and rounded his rivals to dispute at the first.

(Additional reporting by Alan Magee)

About Gary Carson
Gary started out as a trainee/assistant journalist with the Sporting Life newspaper and has worked in the racing industry for over 25 years. He has been with the Press Association since 2013 and won the Irish Field Nap Table in 2016. He enjoys working with horses and trained his own horse, Mamaslittlestar, to win a point-to-point in 2019.