Kool One off the mark over hurdles at Wexford Recent Flat winner Kool One shed his maiden tag over flights when justifying favouritism in the opening Adare Manor Opportunity Maiden Hurdle at Wexford. Successful on the level at Roscommon earlier this month, the Conor Maxwell trained gelding was sent off 8/11f to make the breakthrough over jumps. Always prominent under Ivan Ryan, the former Grade 2 runner-up headed leader Harpy Eagle after three out. A less than fluent leap at the penultimate hurdle briefly gave the latter a brief reprieve but Kool One soon regained control before going on to win by four lengths. Conor Maxwell said: "On paper he was entitled to win it, but he still had to go and do it. He had a good look at the second last and even the last when he was in front, but he done it nicely enough. "We thought he was off a nice mark and he grew a lot during the summer. We let him off after Fairyhouse (in April) and just took our time with him. Galway didn't really work out, the draw killed us, but we fancied him at Roscommon where he made hard work of it, but won anyway. "He was fit and well in himself coming here today, so it was nice to see him go and do that. He chased home some good ones over the winter. "The Lartigue has been on the cards for a long time, it's something we picked out after Cheltenham. It's all systems go for that. I don't know if the handicapper will touch him after today, but he'll probably be still off a nice mark. The Lartigue is a nice race to go for and hopefully he will step up again and be competitive in it." Additional reporting by Donal Murphy.
