'He could go to Cheltenham in October' - Shadow Paddy brings up quick Listowel double for McCarthy Having won the previous race, local trainer Eoin McCarthy was back in the winners' enclosure as Shadow Paddy ran out a comfortable winner of the Behans Horseshoe Bar, Restaurant & Townhouse Handicap Hurdle at Listowel. Twice successful earlier in the year, the five-year-old had looked in the grip of the handicapper of late. However, that proved to be far from the case here, as the locally owned gelding romped home under Gary Noonan. In the first half dozen for much of the contest, Noonan closed on the heels of the leaders after jumping three out. With the final flight omitted, Shadow Paddy came through to lead after the usual two out, before staying on strongly to win by four lengths. Similar to the previous winner, Shadow Paddy received a big reception from local punters as he was led back in after the race. Eoin McCarthy said: "His owners include TJ and Dave Ryan who hurled for Limerick and the whole syndicate are coming to Listowel since they were children, so this is a big meeting for them. "He is a lovely horse but things just didn't go his way in Bellewstown when he got shuffled back at the start. While everything went wrong, he still managed to run a lovely race. The drying ground was a huge help. "He is a gorgeous, big, good looking horse and the only reason we were able to buy him for only €8,000 was nobody knew anything about the stallion (Shadow Gate). He will make a lovely chaser. "I'll talk to the boys but he could go to Cheltenham in October." Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes.
