Spartacus springs shock Ainm Spartacus sprang a 33/1 shock when producing a fine front-running performance in the juvenile maiden hurdle at Gowran Park. Tom Doyle's mount jumped well at the head of affairs and stuck on gamely down the straight to repel all-comers. Luddenmore tried to throw down a challenge from the second last but couldn't peg back the Kieran Purcell-trained gelding, going down by three-lengths. The winner had been well-beaten on two hurdle starts previously but a change of tactics paid dividends today. "Tom said the further he was going the better he was getting," said Purcell afterwards. "He likes to get a good foot into the ground. He jumping was terrible up to now but the extra schooling we did made a big difference."
