Ancient Sands leads Copy That over the last© Photo Healy Racing
On what proved a tremendous Paddy Power Day for Eddie Harty with the feature race success of Minella Foru in the Paddy Power Chase, the Curragh based trainer initiated a double on the afternoon when Copy That justified strong support in the two-mile handicap hurdle at Leopardstown.
The Milan gelding was supported on track from 15/8 into 11/8 favouritism, and was the middle leg of a treble on the card for his owner J P McManus when getting on top on the run-in to eventually record a convincing success.
Jack Kennedy needed to get serious on the four-year-old approaching the last as Ancient Sands tried to assert.
Copy That, now the winner of three of his five hurdle starts, drew clear in the final 100 yards to score by six lengths with Lord Ben another two and a half lengths back in third.
Harty said, “He’s always been a nice horse. He’s still filling out, and the saddle even slipped back a bit as there is not too much of him.
“I was a bit worried about the ground. He handled it well but will probably be more effective on better ground. We may give him a break and come back in the spring.”
Kennedy said, “Turning in he got shuffled back a bit, and I got a few reminders into him before the last. He kept on well from the last and is a nice horse.”
