Noble Emperor rears up in the winners' enclosure but no harm was done© Photo Healy Racing
A Tony Martin newcomer winning a bumper at odds of 16/1 seems almost implausible, but it happened today in Navan with Noble Emperor ridden by Shane Shortall.
The six-year-old gelding raced in mid-division before moving into third with three quarters of a mile to go. He improved by a further position with half a mile left and stayed on in the last furlong to better 7/4 favourite Virtuoso Rouge by four and a half lengths. New World who was nibbled at from 14s into 10s this morning, got third-placed money at 9/1.
“He’s a proper horse. He’s run well in a few schooling races. It’ll depend on the ground on whether he’ll go for another bumper or not, but he jumps well,” Tony Martin said.
Additional reporting by Alan Magee
