Strong Contender Stays on Strongly for Smithers The Norman Lee-trained Strong Contender (11/10) was a wide-margin winner of the SIS Handicap Hurdle for jockey Conor Smithers . The daughter of Jukebox Jury travelled well throughout the contest, and a fine leap at the final hurdle allowed her to extend on and win by nine and a half lengths and record her first victory Speaking after the race, trainer Norman Lee said: “It’s great to get that. We had a run of a lot of bad horses over the last year-and-a-half and it’s been tough going,” said Lee. “She’s a grand little filly and she’ll progress away. Hopefully there is another day in her. “She belongs to a great owner and he’s been with me since the start, others have come and went. Any day you get a winner for Michael Hogan is a great day. “It’s a testament to the lads at home and their great work. We have a small team and we’re trying to climb up again, we had an awful bad run of things. “It’s nice to get back. We have a few nice horses at home and hopefully we’ll get a few again. When we have them we’re able to do them but you need the ammunition. Small yards are struggling. “Conor gave her a super ride. He rode her from the back, we rode her a bit too prominently in Ballinrobe and made a mistake. He gave her a great ride today.” (Quotes from Gary Carson)
