Time Is A Thief much too good for rivals The second division of Tramore's maiden hurdle over two miles went to easy-to-back Time Is A Thief (13/8) who was in the front rank throughout under Darragh O'Keeffe. Narrowly beaten by the subsequent classy Rules performer Pure Steel in his only point-to-point, the Doyen gelding had dropped out of contention before falling at the last on hurdling debut at Cork in December. Fitted with a hood on this occasion, he looked vulnerable in a three-way contest for the lead heading out on the final circuit but went clear before two out and scored by 11 lengths from Le Questionnaire. The winner, owned by the Syders & Burkes Partnership had drifted in the market from odds-on as the locally-trained The Monkey Pole was backed into 11/8 favouritism (from 5/2 before the off), but that one could manage only a well-held fourth. Winning trainer Henry de Bromhead said "I'm delighted with that, it's our first winner for the Syders and the Burkes. He is a lovely horse and he did it nicely. "The hood seemed to help him a lot. He was just a bit keen in Cork the last day. He is still very babyish and I even thought going around there today he looked a bit green, but he did it nicely in the end." Additional reporting by Donal Murphy
