Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle (Grade 1)

AFTER four unsuccessful attempts at the race, Home By The Lee provided Joseph O’Brien and owner-breeder Sean O’Driscoll the ultimate reward for perseverance, as he took out the 2026 Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle in a 33/1 shock under J.J. Slevin.

Now at the age of 11 and winning the 12th race of his career, the dour stayer has no right to be getting any better, but his last two performances are up there with the best of his career - and they couldn’t have come on more contrasting ground. Having gone through the Gowran Park mud like a tractor in the Galmoy Hurdle, he had an answer to his rider’s every call in conditions officially described as good, good to soft in places here.

It looked as though the Skelton’s 4/1 fancy Kabral Du Mathan had come with a winning run approaching the final flight, and he landed with far more momentum than the veteran. However, Home By The Lee’s undeniable staying power kicked in and the silky-travelling challenger wilted under pressure.

Ballyburn and Bob Olinger ran on from behind to fill the frame, with things getting tight for some at the last, but the winner was a length and a quarter too good at the line.

O’Driscoll serenaded the Cheltenham winner’s enclosure immediately after his pride and joy became the joint-oldest winner in Stayers’ Hurdle history. The popular stalwart also matched the record of Vintage Clouds, who captured the 2021 Ultima Handicap Chase after four previous failed attempts at the same race.

“We were coming here hoping he would run well, he won well the last day and was on fire in the ring beforehand. Joseph told me he was flying. For him to come and win it is just unreal,” said Slevin, now a four-time Festival-winning rider.

“I’ve been with him every step of the way and that’s down to two people, Sean and Rose O’Driscoll. I’ve had good days and also had bad days, and it’s on the bad days that you need people behind you. He’s been a great horse.

“He’s tough as nails. He was running away down the hill. When he was travelling so well, I thought I’d press on. Then down to the last, he started looking around and I thought, ‘Oh no, we’re in a bit of bother’. Harry [Skelton] went a good half length up on me, snatched at the back of the last, and he put down his head and away he went again.”

“What a horse, he’s never taken a lame step in his life,” said O’Brien.

“It was a fantastic ride from J.J., and it’s great for Sean and his family; they bred him and he’s an 11-year-old now, they’ve been with him all the way through thick and thin. It’s a huge team effort.

“We’ve raced him more often this year than what we normally have, we said we’d just get him running, whereas in the past we’ve just kept him very fresh, so maybe that helped him.”

Willie Mullins, trainer of Ballyburn (second)

“Delighted with him; we just got squeezed for a bit of room round the last, but I’m delighted for Sean O’Driscoll. We had a good run, and I’m glad to see him back in form.”

Henry de Bromhead, trainer of Bob Olinger (third)

“Darragh [O’Keeffe] was brilliant on him. Fair play to the winner; he’s beaten us a few times and was unlucky to come down in the race last year. I’m delighted for Sean and Joseph. I thought everything was going perfectly in the race for us, he ran a cracker.”

Dan Skelton, trainer of Kabral Du Mathan (fourth)

“I’m sure everyone thought he looked like winning, but you don’t know over three miles until you get it. That was a question mark beforehand, I felt in my heart he would stay, but he’s just hit that stamina wall that can happen. It wasn’t an impossibility of that happening. He’s a Grade 2 winner and we’d like to have another go at a Grade 1, but it would feel inappropriate to run him again this season after that. I’ve always been very conscious that this horse is six years old.”