Rouge makes winning racecourse bow Lord Rouge proved too strong for odds-on shot Dani Donadoni as the pair had the finish to themselves in the first division of the Bar 1 Casino Maiden Hurdle at Cork. It boiled down to a duel between the pair going to the second-last in the two-miler and the Gordon Elliott-trained gelding got on top down to the final flight. A fine leap there settled matters and the Robcour-owned four-year-old kept on well in the closing stages, for Jack Kennedy, to post a length-and-three-quarters2 victory. The 10/3 winner had been runner-up in a point-to-point at Punchestown for Pat Doyle back in February. "He is a fine big horse, there is plenty of improvement in him and Jack said he took a good blow,” said Elliott. “The conditions suited him and I'd say he is a three-mile chaser in the making, so whatever he does this year will be a bonus. "We'll find somewhere, probably at Limerick, for a winners' race on soft ground next over Christmas." (Quotes by Tom Weekes)
