Darragh O'Keeffe sets strong pace at head of the jockeys’ championship Darragh O'Keeffe brought his season’s tally to 35 winners when landing the North Down Marquees Maiden Hurdle on the Philip Rothwell-trained Majestic Horizon at Downpatrick. The 5/2 chance gained a definite advantage approaching the second-last hurdle and battled well from the last to beat Colin Bowe’s 6/1 shot Fortis Et Liber by three-parts of a length, with even-money favourite Coded Welder three lengths further back in third place. Majestic Horizon was having his first start over hurdles having been placed in bumpers at Wexford and Downpatrick back in May. O'Keeffe, who leads Daniel King by 12 in the title race, said "It was a nice performance. "There was no hiding place, and I ended up getting a nice slot. The horse in front was jumping mad left the whole way and I could see he was starting to struggle kind of coming up to the top of the hill. When he jumped out, I said now was my chance to get in front of him. "In fairness my lad, even though he had won a point-to-point, was just a little bit immature when he was in front by himself. He was just waiting for the horses but kept going well. As soon as the second horse came to me, he has galloped well to the line. "Philip said beforehand that he thought he was more than capable of winning races. He'll learn plenty from around there, he jumps really well, so nice to get that with him. "He winged the last and, in fairness, he jumped brilliant throughout. He had loads of experience from the point-to-points, so it was good." Additional reporting by Michael Graham
