Irish Point (Joshua Tree) wins the Bottlegreen Hurdle (Grade III) for owners Robcour and trainer Gordon Elliott.
Having won the Grade I Turners Mersey Novices Hurdle at Aintree in the spring, this represented a drop in grade for Irish Point and he was sent off a strongly supported 5/6F. His odds were reflective of his performance as he stormed away from a good field to win convincingly. The runner up, Magical Zoe (another EBS purchase) is a very talented mare in her own right being a Grade III winner and runner up in the mares Novice Hurdle at last season’s Cheltenham Festival.
This was a commanding win for Irish point and he will surely be targeting all of the big staying hurdles as the season progresses. After the race Gordon Elliott said, “That was a great run,” said Elliott. “We know he wants further but he picked up and he galloped. We would have to be very happy with him. Jack had him in the perfect spot, he kicked at the right time and made plenty of use of him. We’ll keep options open with him, but I would say he will step up in trip now, and it wouldn’t shock me if we saw him over three miles at some stage. He stays really well.”
Irish Point was purchased privately on behalf of connections.
