Gavin Cromwell received a timely pre-Cheltenham boost when Conor Stone-Walsh brought The Lovely Man with a late surge to foil favourite Goraibhmaithagat in a dramatic renewal of the €100,000 BAR 1 Betting Leinster National in Naas. “He’s been a bit unlucky twice,” said winning rider John Gleeson, “He did everything right in Cork until he got to the last. We decided to let him take his chance in this, give him a nice experience and see what happened. He stays well and will step back up to three miles.” O’Keeffe stated, “We went a good gallop. His jumping warmed up, he was good at the last and stuck his head out well and battled."

Source: Irish Examiner March 08, 2026 22:30 UTC