King gets the Ballistraw Ballistraw caused a major shock in the Red Mills Chase at Gowran Park today when running out a facile winner of the Grade 2 contest with Kicking King a well-beaten third. The Denis Hickey trained nine-year-old was the 33/1 outsider of the six runners and despite a mistake at the last he cruised through under Andrew McNamara to head long time leader Knight Legend and score by an extremely comfortable three parts of a length. Afterwards a delighted but shocked Denis Hickey said, "If you´re not in you can´t win! He jumped well and just didn´t act at all the last day when a mistake at the first might have affected him. I don´t know where we will go from here - It is as big as a surprise to me as it is to all of you." Kicking King was 13-lengths back in third but afterwards his trainer Tom Taaffe remained upbeat, "They have gone a real good gallop on tacky ground and he has jumped as good as he ever has on that ground. "Obviously I would be much happier if he won but if he is fine after this it is onwards to the Gold Cup. Barry (Geraghty) said he would come on for the run and I said I was training him for one day and I still am."
