King In Love gives Aherne a welcome winner Well-supported King In Love (8/1 — 6s) gave trainer Sean Aherne a welcome winner at Naas today as the Sean O’Keeffe-partnered gelding landed the Bar One "Price Boosts On The Favourite In Every Race At Cheltenham" Handicap Hurdle. The five-year-old had shown just ordinary form last year but finished an improved-third at Punchestown last month and in today’s 19-runner race, quickened well to score comfortably from Mahlers Cove,. Aherne, whose best performer Beantown finished second in Cheltenham’s 2006 National Hunt Chase, revealed “this winner was a long time coming for me our horses were very sick for a very long time. “Thank God I had a few point-to-point winners lately and this is my first one on the track for a while, so hopefully we’re on the better side of things. “King In Love had a lovely run the last day and I was delighted with him then. He has a little turn of foot so we dropped him back in distance today. Hopefully there’ll be another race or two in him. At the end of the last year the ground went a bit quick for him, he’d like a bit of a dig in it.” Aherne's previous racecourse winner was with Only A Dollar at Clonmel last May. Quotes from Gary Carson
