Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares Novice Hurdle Championship Final (Grade 1)

IN a result that was truly the stuff of fairytales, Skyace, who has defied her £600 price tag all season long, pulled off the incredible by landing a top-level success on a day that her trainer Shark Hanlon will cherish forever.

A first Grade 1 triumph for the trainer and the first leg of a landmark double for her rider, Jody McGarvey, Skyace’s incredible campaign reached its zenith with this gritty and hard-fought success.

Long before she lined up here, the Birdinthehand Syndicate had made a mockery of her price tag, but a success such as this at the top level represented the very embodiment of National Hunt racing. With various superpowers dominating jumps racing, this success shows that big race success is still attainable for those from even the most humble of origins.

Masterfully campaigned since winning a Tipperary maiden hurdle just four days after jump racing resumed in June, Skyace lined up as a Grade 3 and listed winner and she came here off a fine fourth in the Mares’ Novice Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Bullish trainer

The step-up to this two-and-a-half-mile trip looked sure to suit and anyone who listened to her trainer’s exceptionally bullish pre-race comments would have had nothing but the utmost faith in the diminutive daughter of Westerner.

Skyace was always nicely placed in third for McGarvey and she then fought her corner early in the straight to come off the inside rail and deliver her challenge. After the second last, the 4/1 chance was strongly pressed by Gauloise but she had any amount still to give and even at this stage it seemed as though there would be no way past for the last-named.

To her credit, Gauloise fought all the way to the line but an unyielding Skyace finished with half a length to spare.

“She’s as tough as nails and I thought she came back from Cheltenham in better form than when she went,” said an elated Hanlon.

“It’s brilliant for us to have won a Grade 1 but I think this is great for racing as she’s a cheaply bought filly and syndicate-owned. I honestly did think that she was a certainty because she came out of Cheltenham so well and I just felt that she couldn’t get beaten.”

Hardy

A delighted McGarvey added: “She’s hardy, gets the trip really well. Paul (Townend on Gauloise) came to my girths two out but I felt I could outstay him and she’s ground it out well to the line.

“She travelled and jumped and while she’s not very big she has gotten so strong over the last year.

“She’s turned into a brilliant racemare. It’s a pure fairytale. Every time she was winning no one could believe it but she’s proved today she is that good,” he added.