'Hair today, gone tomorrow' as Antoine De Paris is claimed Antoine De Paris had his odds trimmed from 11s to 8/1 before landing Sligo’s opening Carlsberg Optional Claiming Race today, as the Noel Meade-trained gelding shed his maiden status before being successfully claimed. Tailed off wearing first-time blinkers on his most recent start at Roscommon in May, the son of Elzaam today scored comfortably under champion jockey Colin Keane, from runner-up Tartaraghan. Meade revealed “he’s named after the comedian Noel V Ginnity who is a regular racegoer but unfortunately isn’t here this evening. Noel was a hairdresser in London and was known in the salon as Antoine De Paris, who was a famous hairdresser. Noel told me this story and because he is small and the horse is small, we gave him this name.” “We put him in light enough (at 9st, and for €10,000), so he had his chance. He’s not very big but he’s genuine enough.” The winner was the only runner to be claimed, having been bought by TSM Racing for €10,000 and to be trained by Noel Kelly. Quotes from Alan Magee
