IRISH-bred Ebanour captured his second consecutive Virginia Gold Cup, rallying from last to first in the four-mile classic last Sunday.

Owned by Irv Naylor and trained by Cyril Murphy, the 10-year-old son of Indian Ridge won three of four starts last year (losing his rider in the other) and is 1-for-1 this year.

Bred by His Highness the Aga Khan’s Studs and unraced on the flat, Ebanour fetched £120,000 when sold to Donald McCain in 2010. The chesnut gelding won twice over hurdles before being purchased by Naylor in 2012. Two winless starts over hurdles convinced connections to switch to timber where Ebanour has thrived, winning six of 10 starts.

Something else

“He’s something else, he’s something else. He might be the best one I’ve ever…he might be better than even the hurdle horses to be around day in day out, he enjoys his training, he’s easy to work with, the jumping…it’s just playing for him,” said Murphy, who has trained the two most recent champion hurdle horses Dawalan and Rawnaq.

“He doesn’t train any different than the hurdle horses, he works with them, he does everything with him, I’d have no doubts you could stick him in (the Iroquois) and he’d run with credit.”

On the same card as the Virginia Gold Cup, Irish-breds Charminster and Simenon finished second and third behind Schoodic in the $75,000 David Semmes Hurdle Stakes and Irish-breds Unsinkable and Barnacle Bill hit the board in hurdle races.

A day later, Irish-bred Top Man Michael took the Winterthur Bowl, a timber feature worth $25,000 for Naylor and Murphy.