Davy Russell moved onto the 65 winner mark for the season when completing a double at Thurles as Better Times justified favouritism in the concluding Holycross Maiden Hurdle.
The two miles and two furlongs event was not without incident as pace-setter Hail Oil Jimmy, who had shown a tendency to wander about, ran out at the hurdle near the stands with a circuit still to go. A Fine Young Man took over from that point but the writing was on the wall as Better Times made smooth headway to challenge in the straight.
However the 13/8 favourite hung right when asked to go about his business but still had plenty in reserve to beat A Fine Young Man (6/1) by a length and a half. Avoca King (8/1) was third.
Winning trainer Denis Cullen said, “I'm delighted for his owner Tim Conroy who has been absolutely brilliant to me. To be honest this horse is lucky to be alive as he has three pins in his cannon bone.
“He fell here last January but seemed to be fine afterwards. There must have been an underlying problem as we only discovered the injury a week later.
“Davy said he was lugging rather than hanging, and he did that when I won two bumpers on him. Hopefully he's okay in the morning, and we'll find a winners-of-one for him.”
Russell, who was also successful earlier in the afternoon when replacing Shay Barry aboard Is Herself About is currently 23 ahead of Ruby Walsh and Barry Geraghty in the National Hunt jockeys title race.
