Burke and Fahey team up for Bangor gamble Jonathan Burke made his first visit to Bangor a successful one as Its'afreebee landed some hefty bets in the Broncroft Novices' Hurdle. Trained in County Kildare by Mark Fahey, Its'afreebee arrived in Wrexham with some solid bumper form having won at Bellewstown in the summer before chasing home the talented Fugi Mountain at the Listowel Festival in September. Available at 6/1 this morning and further backed from 5/2 into 15/8 favourite on track, the five-year-old was positively ridden by Burke and kicked clear from the home turn to seal a comprehensive eight-length success over Itshard To No. It was a timely success for the winner, who is set for an imminent appearance in the sales ring. Fahey said: "We're delighted and he did what we expected him to do. "He's improved with every run and we knew he'd come on since his run in the winners' bumper in Listowel. "He's in the sales in Cheltenham on Friday and that's where he's heading now. We might lose him, but that's the game we're in and hopefully he can go on and do well." He added: "I've had the (training) licence three years and that's my third winner in Britain. I've had 10 winners in Ireland but mainly deal in buying and selling point-to-pointers." Burke said: "It was my first time at Bangor and I really enjoyed it. All the people there were very helpful and friendly and the horse was very impressive. "Mark was pretty hopeful, but I don't think he expected him to be as impressive as he was. "His jumping was great, which is always nice coming from bumpers, and hopefully he's a nice horse for the future."
