Kilbeg King and Aidan Coleman© Photo Healy Racing
Kilbeg King (12/1) was Punchestown's first visiting winner this week, landing the Grade B Conway Piling Handicap Hurdle for Dorset-based trainer Anthony Honeyball and jockey Aidan Coleman.
The son of Doyen was beaten a neck at Newbury on his previous start and today beat runner-up Lets Go Champ by four and a half lengths.
Honeyball said “we’ve been very lucky here. We brought him here nice and early, got here on Monday. We weren’t sure if he was good enough but we felt that he’d run his race.
“Aidan gave him an absolute peach. He had to scrap a bit to get him out and once he got out he cut loose.
“We had quite a hard race at Newbury when finishing second and we thought we’d wait then until Punchestown. We love coming here and it’s a 0-145.
“It’s worked out well. We got him fresh and they have been very good to us here and we had a few canters on the course. It does horses good after a long season.
“I think the better ground was probably a help as well although he’s a heavy topped horse and it wouldn’t want to be any quicker than this.”
Quotes from Alan Magee
