Rathbawn Soldier marches in for Foley Rathbawn Soldier put a '1' beside three 'duck eggs' on her handicap debut over two miles at Naas. Pat Foley's charge was in mid-division in maiden hurdles here and in Navan, before finishing out the back on her latest run over further at this venue. She was always prominent in the big field that went to post for the William Hill Challenge Mares Handicap Hurdle and challenged Classy Cc (6/1) before the last. The 12/1 shot was stronger than that rival on the run-in as she beat her by a growing three-and-a-half-lengths. Sidiriya was a length and a-half further back at 7/2 while Ode To Joy completed the placings in fourth at 50/1. “We’re delighted with her. I was worried that it was her first run in a handicap, she has been on and off the bridle in her last two races,” said Foley. “I didn’t know if she’d be keen or behind the bridle. I said to Alex (Harvey) to have her handy and go from there. “If she was keen, there was nothing we could do about it, but I’d rather have her up there. “She never missed a beat - she had a bit of a look at the last, but Alex knows her from home so he knew what to do with her. He was very good on her. “She’s not a big, strong filly - she’ll probably handle a bit of nice ground, so we’ll keep her in over the summer. “We’ll see what the handicapper does with her and go off that.” Additional reporting by Gary Carson
