Rothwell's 'horrendous day' gets better at Gowran Philip Rothwell and Simon Torrens teamed up to land the Thomastown Handicap Hurdle at Gowran with 16/1 chance Minority Interest. Second on handicap debut at Kilbeggan last summer, the Lauro gelding was then off for almost a year and was fourth at the same midlands venue on his most recent start in August.  With the cheekpieces worn then applied again, he raced close to the pace here and led before two out. The five-year-old asserted on the run-in to beat Darcy's Friend (11/10 fav, from 9/4 before the off) by six lengths.  “That makes it a better day because it was horrendous until then!” said Rothwell. “I came in and an umbrella left the bookies and missed my head by an inch. I said ‘this is going to be a good day’ because it should have clocked me. “Then one fell in the first, one got brought down in the third and then a horse, Quarry Rocco, slipped in the stable and was lame behind and I couldn’t run him. “I was saying ‘what have I done wrong?’. That’s brilliant. “The lads (Cluain Abhann Racing Syndicate) are great. The horse has been very solid. He ran a good race in Kilbeggan over a year ago but got an injury and we nursed him back. “He ran a great race the last day and was super today. He had a lovely racing weight and handled a bit of an ease. “We never got to run him on softer because he got an injury in the summer and then we brought him back again this summer. “This is his first time that he’s got to run with an ease. I said to the lads that I thought he would appreciate it but I couldn’t be sure. He obviously did.” Additional reporting by Gary Carson
