Nolan's grey outstays rivals Joyau De Thaix (9/2) finished with a flourish under Eoin Staples to claim an unlikely victory in Leopardstown’s beginners’ chase over two miles, five-and-a-half furlongs. A dual winner over hurdles, the grey son of Karaktar tracked the leaders but was briefly short of room on the home turn and jumped the last in fourth. Dameauscottlestown looked set for victory halfway up the run-in but didn’t really see out her race and the winner surged by her close home to post a length and three-quarters success. Trainer Paul Nolan said of Lynne and Angus Maclennan’s seven-year-old “He got up on the line to win in Limerick on bottomless ground as well, he just stayed at it really well. “I thought when they came around him he was going to be third. I knew he’d stay at it, but I didn’t think he’d catch the winner. “He was an unlucky faller in a beginners’ chase before. He jumped well today. “He said he was grand and idle in second place the whole way around. He hit the line fairly well. “It was a chase for horses rated 120 or less, so it was grand for him and it’s nice to get off the mark over fences with him. “Hopefully he’ll make into a nice staying chaser on soft ground. We might try him with a light weight in better races and see how we go. “I thought the ground would be a bit quick today but they went a good gallop on it. He definitely wants three miles, that’s not going to happen very often where they stop like that and come back to him. “He stays at it well and jumped an awful lot better today. I thought for a big horse he was maybe lacking a bit of scope, but he jumped well today.” Additional reporting by Gary Carson
