YOU could have made a case for at least six of the seven runners in Sunday’s intriguing Bar One Racing Drinmore Chase and you could have still made a case for all six as they faced up to the second last fence. Four Gigginstown House horses and two J.P. McManus horses, three Gordon Elliott horses against Noel Meade, Mouse Morris, Tony Martin and Eddie Harty. It was a fascinating contest, and it is a race from which the winner usually progresses to be one of the top staying novice chasers in the land.

That could be the case again this year, because Coney Island was an impressive winner. The Eddie Harty-trained gelding jumped well, he travelled well into the home straight on the far side for Mark Walsh – the rider’s third winner of the weekend – and he came away nicely from Anibale Fly, who in turn came away from the rest of the field to complete a one-two for McManus.

The Flemensfirth gelding was a progressive novice hurdler last season, he won his maiden at Leopardstown’s Christmas Festival and he finished second to Bellshill in the Grade 1 three-mile novices’ hurdle at the Punchestown Festival.

He shaped encouragingly on his debut over fences, when he finished second to Haymount in a beginners’ chase at Punchestown’s Morgiana Hurdle meeting last month, but Sunday’s run was obviously a big step up on that.

There is no telling how high he could go now. Sunday’s race lacked an obvious superstar but it was a high-class race. It had strength in-depth. Harty spoke about stepping up in trip now, and that makes sense. A winner over three miles over hurdles, and out of a half-sister to top stayers Wichita Lineman and Rhinestone Cowboy, he could improve again when he steps up to three miles over fences.