Moore's Star takes Naas opener under Doyle Ricky Doyle made every yard of the running aboard the Arthur Moore trained Star Of The Week to land the opening William Hill Ireland Bet10 Get5 Maiden Hurdle at Naas. Runner-up at Down Royal last month, the Jonathan Duffy owned five-year-old was sent to post a well backed 5/4f to open his account at the third time of asking. Sent straight to the front from flag fall, Doyle set steady fractions on the son of Masked Marvel, before quickening entering the home straight. In a race where very few of the runners got competitive, the always prominent Dschingis Desire kept on late under Paul Townend to finish a five-length second, with Lynches Knock a further three-lengths behind. “He’s a gorgeous horse, he’s a model,” said Moore. “Kevin and Anna (Ross — daughter) bought him as a yearling and they couldn’t sell him in Doncaster as a three-year-old. “Harold Kirk said he’d come back and buy him after he won his point-to-point but he came into us broken and (son) JD took a fancy to him. He has a good pal Jonathan Duffy and he recommended he buy him. “The whole family have contributed. I’m delighted for Jonathan. “He’ll have one more run and he’ll go chasing next year. You can see the way he jumps there. “He’s a joy to train, never turns a hair. He was just a bit of a baby up in the north and ran a bit keen. “Ricky said he was actually a bit asleep in front today. “In our last nine runners I think we’ve had five seconds, three thirds and a fourth. It’s nice to get the head in front. “We’ll see what mark he gets now. We’ll maybe see if there is something over Easter for him at Fairyhouse or Cork, once the ground stays soft. “Two miles is fine for him and over fences that will be fine. He can work up from there. “I’d like to start at two, ideally at Navan where we started Klairon (Davis), Native Upmanship and Soft Day and a few others. It’s a lovely track but that’s a long way away. “Ricky gave him a lovely ride. He’s very under-rated, he got the fractions right and is a very good horseman. I’m lucky to have him riding for me.” Additional reporting by Gary Carson.
