Rebel Early and Pont Aven (far side) battle it out on the run-in© Photo Healy Racing
Rebel Early upset hot-pot Pont Aven and in the process helped Rachael Blackmore gain one over her championship rival Paul Townend in the Coral 100K Cash Cheltenham Smart Money Series Maiden Hurdle at Clonmel.
Pont Aven appeared to have found a good opportunity in this two-mile event and was sent off the 1/2 favourite, although Rebel Early was far from ignored in the market being supported on track into 12/1 (from 20/1).
The odds-on favourite met some trouble in running at the penualtimate flight before being switched to challenge by Townend.
However he was far from fluent at the final hurdle and Rebel Early proved the stronger on the run-in to score by a length. The pair pulled five and a half lengths clear of Fur Elise in third.
Blackmore is now five behind (88-83) Townend in the jump jockey’s title race.
The victory was also a welcome one for trainer Liam Burke who has bridging a gap of over five months without a winner.
Burke said, "She was unlucky here the last day when she was flying home but fell. She actually never travelled today because she got a fright when a horse stood on her the last day and she was very sore afterwards. She would have been in the shake-up then but got a desperate fall.
"She was very careful early on today and she was some ride in fairness to Rachael.
"We will fiddle away with her and will go chasing eventually but like a lot of those mares, if you win one or two of those races, away they go."
(TW & AM)
