Home By The Lee Digs Deep To Land Galmoy Hurdle At Gowran Home By The Lee dug deep late on to land the John Mulhern Galmoy Hurdle at Gowran Park for Joseph O'Brien. Home By The Lee Shows Trademark Grit The veteran was sent to post a 3/1 shot in the Grade 2 contest and tracked front-runner Staffordshire Knot in the two mile seven-and-a-half furlong event. As is customary, he didn't always travel but he put his head down to tackle the leader going to the last flight. The 11-year-old got to the front on the run-in, for JJ Slevin, to secure a hard fought half-length success over the 9/4 favourite. It was an eleventh career success for Home By The Lee and his first since landing the Grade 1 Savills Hurdle at Leopardstown in December 2024. O'Brien Eyes Fifth Cheltenham Tilt "He has bundles of stamina and a great will to win, which are two things you need to win here today with the conditions. I am very proud of the horse and being an 11-year-old, we will enjoy every run that he has left," said O'Brien "It is a prestigious race to win and hopefully there is more to come this season." He added:- "We were feeling our way with him when he finished second in this race back in 2022 and he has been a high-level staying hurdler for the last number of seasons. On the figures, he has run right up to his best today. "He will go back to Cheltenham for the fifth time in March, he got brought down last year which was probably his best shot, but you never know what might happen this year." Slevin told RTE:- "He's been a great horse for a number of years, and it was a great performance to pull it out of the bag there again today. "Obviously I'm very lucky, Sean and Rose (O'Driscoll) have been great owners, and Joseph. "I remember I got run out with him one day going to the second-last hurdle in Down Royal when he was probably coming to win. Sean said after the race 'that's it, move on to the next day'. "They have been wonderful to ride for all the way along. "It's proper heavy ground, as hard work as you're going to get, but fair play to them for getting the meeting on. "It's proper jumping ground, everything is down a gear and you have to use your strength and use your head. That's what the game was built on." (Additional reporting by Tom Weekes)
