Five Legendary Troytown Winners The Navan Racing Festival takes place over the weekend of Saturday November 15th and Sunday 16th and the highlights include the Troytown Handicap Chase on day two. The Grade 3 Bar One Racing-backed event is run over a three-mile trip and is one of the most competitive handicap chases in the first half of the season, with €100,000 in the pot. It's a contest Gordon Elliott loves to target, he will often be mob-handed, and the Cullentra supremo has won it seven times since 2014. We are recalling five of the finest winners of the Troytown at Navan. Black Secret The Dreaper family celebrated a big day at Navan in 1970 when trainer Tom sent out Black Secret to win the Troytown with son Jim in the saddle. The latter went on to score as a trainer with both the Kevin O'Brien-ridden River Tarquin in 1991 and more recently, with Notre Pere and Andrew Lynch in 2008, cementing his legacy in the Navan event. Lyreen Wonder Only one horse this century has managed to bag successive renewals of the Troytown and that was Lyreen Wonder for trainer Arthur Moore in 2000 and 2001. In his first win, he led home a one-two for the stable with More Than A Stroll taking second spot and then 12 months later he defended the crown with former Irish National winner Commanche Court back in third carrying top-weight for Ted and Ruby Walsh. Royal County Star Favourites had a decent record in the early part of this century, winning three times in five years from 2003 onwards. Charles Byrnes and Tony Martin are two trainers well known to land a gamble and after the former saw Cloudy Bays justify favouritism in '03, the Summerhill handler saddled Royal County Star to score under Robbie Colgan as market leader in 2007, the duo getting the better of Gazza's Girl for Jessica Harrington and Barry Geraghty in a duel late on despite a bad mistake at the second last jump. Tofino Bay The late Dessie Hughes bagged this race with Tofino Bay in 2012, giving rider Davy Russell the first of his three Troytown wins. The Gigginstown House Stud inmate had won a beginners' chase over 2m4f at Navan that September and was having just his third start over fences, defying a mark of 134 on handicap bow as Russell got the better of AP McCoy on Eddie Harty's Like Your Style in a driving finish after the pair had gone clear — the Youghal man doing so despite dropping his whip with a furlong to run! Run Wild Fred In more recent times, it is Gordon Elliott that has come to dominate this race and it is not unusual to find the Cullentra handler mob-handed for one of the feature races of the season at his local track. Amongst Elliott's running tally of seven Troytown wins is Run Wild Fred in 2021, again with Russell sporting the maroon and white of Gigginstown. A field of 16 lined up and seven hailed from the Elliott team. It doesn't always go to plan but, this time, it was 4/1 favourite Run Wild Fred coming clear to win from 11/2 second-favourite Farclas as Elliott saddled the first two home for owner Michael O'Leary.
