Streets Of Doyen and Sean O'Keeffe (left) jump the last ahead of Hello Pilgrim© Photo Healy Racing
Taken out at Listowel last week because of soft ground, Streets Of Doyen (11/4) enjoyed the good ground to take the Roscommon Handicap Hurdle by a length and a half from Hello Pilgrim (10/1). The Trigger (15/2) was eight lengths further back in third with the 5/2 favourite Baily Thunder back in fifth place.
The Doyen gelding, bought for £68,000 after winning an Ayr bumper for Stuart Crawford last year, was winning for the first time for John McConnell having shaped well when a running-on third over half a mile shorter at Punchestown on his previous start.
Winning rider Sean O’Keeffe, for whom it was a 20th winner of the campaign, said: "I rode him the last day too. Being a quirky type I learned a bit from riding him then.
"The plan was to give him time early on and find his own feet and rhythm, and to try and take a lead until we had to go. He's still a bit raw and learning his job. Hopefully he (the handicapper) won't be too hard on him and he can win again.
“That trip and ground there suited him well.”
"It's my first winner for John (McConnell). He's been flying all summer."
Additional reporting by Eamonn Murphy
