San Guido clears the final obstacle© Photo Healy Racing
Henry de Bromhead saddled a quick-fire double in Fairyhouse when San Guido proved much too good for his five rivals in the two mile handicap hurdle.
There was only one horse priced at bigger odds than him, but the combination of a handicap debut with first-time blinkers applied to a tongue-strap certainly worked the oracle. Noble Hilltop attracted plenty of support throughout the morning and raced at the head of affairs for Danny Gilligan. His race was run, though, when collared two out by In The Trenches and a closing San Guido.
San Guido got the measure of In The Trenches between the final two flights and readily increased the margin by the last.
He scooted right away on the run-in to score by an emphatic 10 lengths at 12/1 from 11/8 favourite In The Trenches.
“He was really disappointing in Naas (eighth), he's just so laid-back. He's not ungenuine, he's just laid-back, so we said we'd try the blinkers on him and obviously they had the desired effect,” said de Bromhead.
“He was brilliant today, he jumped brilliantly and did it nicely. Darragh (O'Keeffe) was brilliant on him.
“There aren't many four-year-old only handicaps so we'll see. I'm delighted he's got off the mark today and we'll see what's coming up.” Theatre Native also took race one on the card for de Bromhead.
Additional reporting by Gary Carson
