Double for Hughes as Optimum overturns Rudi Optimum Force made it win number three and a double on the day for Dessie Hughes at the Killarney Festival as he overturned the hotpot 2/5 favourite Rudi Trucker to take the Dan Linehan’s Bar Hunters Chase. The winner and the favourite jumped the last together but under a strong Kevin Power drive the Gerry Burke owned, 6/1 shot found more on the run-in to win by three lengths at the finish. The 9yo City Honours gelding only made his comeback to racing this year having been out since '07. He ran in two point-to-point’s finishing fifth and second respectively before easily winning what was a weak hunter chase at Cork on his penultimate start. He since ran in the Champion Hunters Chase at the Punchestown Festival where he finished eighth behind Salsify after making a bad mistake 8 out. The winning trainer said afterwards: "He did well to go as far as he did the last day at Fairyhouse, after making a bad mistake. That was his first time on ground like that and he seemed to like it. He has had leg trouble in the past. "He may go for another hunters chase now if we can find something similar or else he will go for a handicap instead." Donal Murphy
