Family success for the Gilligans at Wetherby Irish challenger Born By The Sea made a successful raid on Wetherby yesterday with victory in the Sixt Car Hire Intermediate Chase. Trained near Athenry by Paul Gilligan, the six-year-old, a winner over hurdles at Killarney last year, was the outsider of three runners at 7-1, with little to choose between 11-10 favourite Geordie B and 6-5 shot The Mulcair at the top of the market. With several jumping errors leading to a disappointing display from Geordie B, it turned into a straight fight between Born To Sea and The Mulcair — and it was the former who prevailed by three-quarters of a length in the hands of the trainer’s son, 7lb claimer Jack. “It was a great ride from Jack, he did everything asked of him. He won it nicely,” the trainer said of the performance, which was the jockey’s first winner on English turf. A Cheltenham Festival winner ten years ago with 33/1 Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle hero Berties Dream, Gilligan added: “Jack’s my son, so that adds to it. It’s even better when it’s your own lad riding, it’s just fantastic. "He’s a better horse fresh, so it’s possible we’ll wait now and enter him in a good race at Leopardstown over Christmas.”
