Small Town Hero great value for Kilkenny Racing Syndicate Very few horses got into Division 1 of the Fleadh Cheoil Wexford Handicap Hurdle as Small Town Hero and Close Enough dominated throughout and it was the former that beat the latter. The pair were well clear of the field for a large part of this three-mile journey, but their rivals must have thought the petrol gauges were running low when the margin was eradicated racing to the penultimate flight. However, Close Enough and Small Town Hero merely went on again and asserted by the last where a good jump by Close Enough looked to have given her the best chance of victory. Small Town Hero rallied on her inner, though, and got up in the closing stages to strike by half a length under Conor Stone-Walsh. The winner was 9/2 co favourite while the runner-up was a 28/1 chance. Onefortheditch, another 9/2 co favourite, was six and a-half lengths back in third. Ian Donoghue said: "He won a four-year-old maiden point-to-point and, while maybe he could have had issues, we took a punt with him. He wasn't cheap - he was £7,000 and, for a horse rated what he was, it was dear enough. "I was there the day he won his point-to-point and he was like that, very tough. We said we'd take a chance on him and it worked out, thank God. "We had a list going to Doncaster for the lads and this is their first ever horse. Dean is in charge of the syndicate and he saw an Instagram story of mine and then asked me for my number and rang me and said he wouldn't mind getting a horse. He gave me a budget and they were loyal now because I couldn't find anything for two or three months. We got this lad eventually and he is two from two for them now. "We will hopefully give him a break now. I think on winter ground he might be a bit better. He is probably the slowest horse we have, but he is honest and tries and it means an awful lot. I know from the point-to-point game with four-year-olds who'd be working all over him, but then they'd pull up. He has heart, though, and tries hard. "Conor was good on him and I was happy that it was Sean O'Keeffe alongside him (on Close Enough) and not some young lad getting run away with. I know Sean is very good and Conor is very good. They set their fractions well and they finished one, two. I was surprised that the boys left them off so far." Additional reporting by Donal Murphy
