Irving Fighting fit in Newcastle thriller Irving won the stanjames.com Fighting Fifth Hurdle for a second time in a thrilling finale at Newcastle. The 6-1 chance, trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by Harry Cobden, landed the Grade One event two years ago and once again came up trumps on his first outing for 280 days. Hidden Cyclone made a good deal of the running until the field clustered three hurdles from home, at which point Petit Mouchoir suffered a bad fall. Having fended off Sceau Royal, Irving then needed to pull out all of the stops to keep the on-rushing Apple's Jade at bay by a nose. A lengthy photo-finish was called before the Nicholls inmate was announced the winner.
