Arch Empire comes good on second start for Elliott Arch Empire stepped up on the promise of his recent stable debut for Gordon Elliott when opening his account in the Tim Kelly (C&G) Maiden Hurdle at Ballinrobe. Fourth at Navan towards the end of last month, the Doctor Dino gelding showed the benefit of that experience to beat some well fancied rivals in this competitive affair. Prominent in the early stages, Danny Gilligan was content to drop back into fourth place as the race developed on the final circuit. Pushed along to go third after the penultimate flight, Arch Empire went second jumping the last before quickly taking over from Yoradreamer in front. Soon asserting on the short run-in, the five-year-old kept on well to register a one-and-a-quarter length success. Winning rider Gilligan said: “We thought the nicer ground would bring out a bit of improvement and he came on nicely from the last day. “He’s still a bit green and babyish so the last thing I wanted was to be in front the whole way. “He’s going to come on plenty from today as well so hopefully there is a bit of fun to be had with him.” Additional reporting by Gary Carson.
