Noble Yeats surged to clear Grand National favouritism by turning on the style at Wexford.
Last year’s Aintree hero jumped with aplomb for new jockey Sean Bowen and cleared away from Hurricane Georgie by four-and-three-quarter lengths. Odds-on favourite Run Wild Fred floundered on the ground in the Listed M.W. Hickey Memorial Chase and could only muster a distant third place.
Bookies cut Noble Yeats’ price across the board for next April’s double bid, four years on from Tiger Roll’s record exploits. Emmet Mullins’ chaser is 12-1 (from 16-1) with Paddy Power after the polished front-running display for his recently appointed rider.
“He is a horse that wouldn’t impress you on the way around, he just does what he needs to do,” Bowen said. “Every time you ask him, he gives it to you.”
The seven-year-old carried amateur rider Sam Waley-Cohen, son of owner Robert, to a famous victory in the Aintree marathon last season in what was the jockey's last ever competitive ride.
Mullins said: "It was a joy to watch and there weren't too many anxious moments. Everything went to plan and it all fell into place. It is testing out there but he's handled it in the past. He won a bumper at Thurles on it and a maiden hurdle at Navan as well.
"One of his only bits of good ground form is in the National. He is a very versatile horse and was foot perfect today. I have no plan for him yet. Today was to get the show back on the road and we have plenty of options for him. He still seems to be going the right way."
Meanwhile, veteran jockey Kevin Manning brought the curtain down on his distinguished career with a final victory at Galway. Carrying the colours of his most recent Classic winner Poetic Flare, Vocal Studies (4-6f) landed the odds in the Corrib Food Products Maiden.
For most of his illustrious career, 55-year-old Manning rode for his father-in-law Jim Bolger. The rider, who won the 2008 Derby on the trainer’s New Approach, felt the time was right to call it a day. I have been very lucky to ride some very good horses along the way and owe Jim and Jackie (Bolger) everything,” he said.
