Laurie Blue battles back to beat Firebrand at Roscommon Laurie Blue showed plenty of determination to battle back on the run-in under Jordan Gainford to win Division l of the Railway Bar Maiden Hurdle at Roscommon. Leading for most of the contest, the Eamon Delany trained mare looked in trouble when headed by market leader Firebrand after jumping three out. To her credit, the 4/1 chance stuck to her task well, never letting the latter establish much of an advantage after edging ahead. Rallying to get back upsides after jumping the last, Laurie Blue showed the greater resolve in keeping on strongly close home to win by two lengths. “We bought her three years ago and paid plenty of money for her after she was second in a point-to-point,” said Alan Delany. "We’ve had a lot of little bits and pieces go wrong but fair due to Diane (Flanagan) as she’s had the most patience of anyone I’ve ever seen. “She just said to do what’s right for the horse and give her time and bring her back. “I said to her once or twice that she’d had her chance but fair dues to Diane as she’s really persevered. “We always liked her at the start but there were little issues and we didn’t know if we’d get back to where we are. “I’m delighted with that and Jordan was delighted. It’s a great team effort, we have a small team at home. It means a lot to us as my Dad is in hospital.” Additional reporting by Gary Carson.
