Nouvotic makes all to win Grade 3 Handicap Chase under O'Keeffe Darragh O'Keeffe showed once again why he has few equals when it comes to making the running, as Nouvotic led throughout under the Cork man to win the Grade 3 Colm Quinn BMW Handicap Chase at Punchestown. Having his first start since scoring at Wexford in October, the Henry De Bromhead trained gelding made light of that absence, jumping and travelling strongly at the head of affairs. Pushed along entering the straight, the Roger Brookhouse owned 7/1 chance asserted between the final two fences, staying on well to beat Conyers Hill by 10 lengths. “It’s lovely to get one, especially for Roger who is a brilliant supporter of Punchestown. He loves coming over, he comes over every year,” said de Bromhead. “He’s a great supported of ours as well and that’s the second time we’ve won this, we won it with Lets Go Champ a couple of years ago as well. “We thought he was a real three-miler and he was disappointing one day in Kilbeggan. He looks like a two-and-a-half or two-six kind of horse. “I couldn‘t believe the easy lead Darragh got and I’m just delighted.” When asked if he could be a Galway Plate contender he added: “He could, I was just thinking that but he may not be rated high enough. “He was 130 there so he may not be rated high enough to get in but he could be a horse for the ‘Blazers’ or something like that. “He loves that ground.” Additional reporting by Gary Carson.
