Bell Ex Too up and running over flights It was all change in the closing stages of the three-year-old maiden hurdle in Ballinrobe as Bell Ex Too stayed on from fifth for a last-gasp success. The hurdling newcomer was backed from 4/1 to 2/1 favourite and got up in the final strides under a drive from Paddy Cody to pip Neon Eyes (10/1) by a neck. The runner-up had just got to the front close home herself from Misty Cove who ultimately dropped to fourth as Step By Step (14/1) rounded out the placings. Ray Cody said: "I told Paddy to be in the first two or three, but he was a little slowly away from some of his hurdles and the track didn't suit him, he'd prefer a more galloping track. "He clipped a heel as well and had to come around them after the last, so it was a good performance, considering all that. "He might go for a winners' of one at Punchestown next, it's a race we've won before. "Robbie Power did a good job with another horse of mine, Game Point, so I sent this horse up to him to get him off the ground, and he loved him. "He jumped economically today, but he'll jump better off a better gallop at a bigger track. "He's a fine, strapping horse, probably over 17 hands and with legs like a hunter, and he'll be better on softer ground. I think he can win on the Flat too, maybe over a mile and six (furlongs)." Bell Ex Too has been unplaced in five spins on the Flat. Additional reporting by Mark Nunan
