McNiff's Houndsworth causes 40/1 upset under Deegan Having failed to trouble the judge in three maiden runs, the Mark McNiff trained Houndsworth cause a 40/1 upset when winning the Finbarr Quaid Electrical Handicap Hurdle at Cork. Held up towards rear by Richie Deegan, the four-year-old made smooth progress to tack onto the heels of the leaders leaving the back straight. Making headway to go second after the penultimate flight, the Ciaran Grogan owned gelding led at the last, before going clear to score by six-lengths. Richie Deegan said: "I got a call from my agent Ken Whelan this morning saying this was getting a run (as first reserve) so told him to go for it. I was talking to Mark (McNiff) and he just told me to drop him in and see what happens. "Mark said that he liked him and that he was unlucky the last day, when hampered by a loose horse. He said if the race was there to win, all the better. "It is just yielding ground and they went a good gallop, which settled us down over the first and he travelling into it lovely. He jumped beautifully. "I had previously ridden a hunters chase winner for Mark going back a while and he might give me another winner now hopefully." Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes.
