Third time lucky for Zam Bobbler in Wexford maiden hurdle Having shown definite promise on his first two starts over flights, the Philip Rothwell trained Zam Bobbler opened his account when landing the William Hill Each Way Extra Challenge Series Maiden Hurdle at Wexford. Sent off 14/1 under Tiernan Power Roche, the Paul Dillon, Pearse Mehigan, Michael Hannon and P J Rothwell owned gelding was never out of the first half dozen. Moving closer to go third after three out, the Zambezi Sun gelding led over two out, before keeping on strongly to beat Mart Lane by one-and-three-quarter lengths. Rothwell said: "In Listowel the first day he ran a bit keen and gassy. The second day he was much more professional. I'd say he found around here a bit tighter today. "His jumping hasn't been brilliant, as was the case today. He is just a huge big unit, a big baby. "I had spotted this race a while back, being part of the William Hill series and I sort of kept him in mind for it. It's nice when a plan works out. "He has hugely supportive owners. Back at Christmas he wasn't 100% sound for a while and we couldn't really find what was wrong. I told the lads that he was just big and backward and to give me time with him, so they've been hugely patient. They are great owners, so it's great to get a winner for them. "Today was the plan and we'll look for a handicap or a novice handicap somewhere for him now. He definitely wants soft ground so we'll see what way that pans out. Hopefully he'll keep getting better." Additional reporting by Donal Murphy.
