Native shows way home
Native Upmanship floored the odds-on Rathgar Beau with a bold front-running performan to win the An Uaimh Chase at Navan yesterday.
The 12-year-old, trained by Arthur Moore, quickly built-up a 10-length lead in the hands of Conor O’Dwyer and never put a foot wrong in the Grade Three contest.
Rathgar Beau, on the other hand, was labouring most of the way and made a bad mistake at the eighth of the 14 fences when he got in too close.
Although the 1-4 shot got to within five lengths of the leader at the second-last fence, he had nothing left to give and Native Upmanship (7-2) galloped on strongly to win by a distance.
A delighted Moore said: “It was a great thrill to win this race. It’s over a year since he won and he’s a 12-year-old, but he enjoyed himself and jumped well.
“He’ll go to Punchestown now for the Kerrygold Champion Chase over two miles (where he would meet Moscow Flyer).
“He missed the break at Cheltenham and sulked before pulling up, but it meant he had a very easy race compared to Rathgar Beau, who seemed to be feeling the effects of his hard race.”
O’Dwyer told At The Races: “Cheltenham was just a bit competitive for him and I pulled him up five out. He just wasn’t going anywhere.
“He’s come here to freshen up I suppose and it was good to see him go and win.
“He’s been there year after year to be counted. He’s never had a bad season really. He always tries his best and I wish there were a few more of them.”
