IF second could only be the new first, it would have been a spectacular few days for Armagh trainer Ronan McNally.

Last Thursday week, on Thyestes Day at Gowran Park, one of the youngsters in the yard, the six-year-old Papal Bull gelding The Jam Man, filled the runner-up slot in the two-and-a-half-mile Adare Manor Opportunity Handicap Hurdle. He hit the front two out but was then headed, and ultimately beaten six lengths into second by the late-arriving Allez Kal.