Held up towards rear, closer in 5th 6 out, pushed along in 5th 3 out, headway from 2 out, close 3rd on inner approaching last, soon ridden, went 2nd inside final furlong, stayed on well close home, led near line op 5/2 tchd 11/4
Tracked leaders, 3rd 3 out, headway into 2nd next, ridden and led at last, stayed on under pressure inside final furlong, no extra and headed near line tchd 2/1 and 5/2
Disputed lead, not fluent at 2nd, headed before next, disputed lead again from 6 out, led after 3 out, ridden and strongly pressed before last, headed at last, stumbled badly on inner inside final furlong and dropped to 3rd, no impression tchd 11/4
Shady Operator (7/4), Ballyward (9/4), C'Est Jersey (7/2), Shawshank (9/1), The Conditional (14/1), Kagney (25/1), Alighting (33/1)
Trainer Willie Mullins has taken three of the last six renewals of this contest and his BALLYWARD can get the better of stablemate C'est Jersey in this intriguing contest. The Paul Nolan-trained Shawshank won two of his three point-to-point starts and could be capable of hitting the frame along with the J P McManus, owned/Joseph O'Brien, trained, Shady Operator.