WICKLOW Brave’s long standing association with the Listowel Festival yielded a fourth course success, this time in the Cheestrings Novice Chase, which has teed up the former Irish St Leger hero for an American raid next month.

The American Grand National at Far Hills in New Jersey is next for the remarkable 10-year-old who carved out his own piece of Harvest Festival history as he has now won a bumper, a flat race, a hurdle and a chase at this meeting over the space of six years.

Fresh from a Grade 3 victory at Galway, the Wicklow Bloodstock-owned gelding was sent off at 1/2 to account for four rivals in this extended two-mile affair but this success wasn’t without a scare.

Wicklow Brave made a couple of mistakes and was given a good test by Jan Maat but answered Paul Townend’s call to get on top after the last to carry the day by three-parts of a length.

“He landed in the middle of the first fence and that upset him for a circuit and he made a mistake at the same fence next time around but his class told,” reported Willie Mullins. “He’ll go for the American Grand National next and then hopefully we’ll have him back for the Drinmore.”

Earlier, the champion trainer and jockey struck with the evens favourite Zola in the Charleville Cheese Maiden Hurdle. Last month’s Sligo bumper winner took well to jumping and the step up to three miles for a convincing success.

The Blue Blood Racing Club-owned mare, who is out of a half-sister to The Listener, shrugged off Cloudybackwest early in the straight to come home a dozen lengths ahead of Mister Fogpatches.

“She’s probably the smallest mare we have but she is all heart. She’ll go novice hurdling now and blacktype will be the aim with her,” stated Mullins.