Pakens Rock and Phillip Enright© Photo Healy Racing
Galway course specialist Pakens Rock gained a fourth win at the venue today as the Barry Murphy locally trained gelding landed the Sanserv Rated Novice Chase under jockey Philip Enright.
The son of Central Park today justified 3/1 favourtisim to beat Brace Yourself by two lengths to add to last year's two hurdle wins and last month's chase win at the Ballybrit course.
Pakens Rock is now the winner of €67,000 and six races and following the race his adoring trainer stated “he is a small horse, is hardly 16 hands and is such a little battler. In those heavy conditions you wouldn't think you'd see a small light framed horse like him but he did it well and loves it here.
“We have nothing in mind for him and he likes this place and Thurles so we'll see how he is in the morning and make a plan.
Clarinbridge based Murphy has an unrivalled horses-to-humans ratio and added “I have around four, five horses and have a great team of lads with me; Kevin Heffernan, who is a trainer himself, my brother Richard, Andrew Flaherty who rides him out every day, Conor Heany and James Duggan, a young amateur who comes in from Pat Kelly's.
"I keep the numbers small and what we have runs well and that's the way we plan to do it. For the amount of horses I have, I'm spoiled!
"We're finished at 9.30am every day.”
