Dearg does the business over timber

Gary Carson

Published at Nov 4, 2026, 14:03

An Peann Dearg and Sean O'Keeffe (nearest)
© Healy Racing Photos

An Peann Dearg was produced with a well-timed charge to land the Botanica International Rated Novice Hurdle at Wexford for local trainer Paul Nolan.

The 18/1 shot was held up early on by Sean O'Keeffe in the two-miler and came to challenge over the last flight.

He got on top in the closing stages to post a length success over Mystic Rose.

It was a third career success for An Peann Dearg with both previous wins coming over fences. He was returning from a break after a poor run of form.

Nolan said afterwards:- "He's a horse that hadn't won over hurdles. He won a chase at Leopardstown and won at the Dublin Racing Festival after it.

“He was struggling over hurdles and we were going to step him up in trip. When this race came up with a little bit of nice soft ground we said we'd just sweeten him up a little bit.

“He jumped the hurdles like fences early on, he was on and off it( bridle) but he travelled around the outside.

“I knew when he was coming two out that we had a great chance. I'm just delighted to get him to win again."

(Quotes by John O'Riordan)

About Gary Carson

Gary started out as a trainee/assistant journalist with the Sporting Life newspaper and has worked in the racing industry for over 25 years. He has been with the Press Association since 2013 and won the Irish Field Nap Table in 2016. He enjoys working with horses and trained his own horse, Mamaslittlestar, to win a point-to-point in 2019.

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