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Common Practice floors High Class Hero at Thurles
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Sat 15 Mar 2025
There was a surprise result in the Pierce Molony Memorial Novice Chase at Thurles, with Common Practice upsetting long odds-on favourite High Class Hero in the Grade Three feature.
Sent off at 2-13, High Class Hero was prominent from flag-fall under Paul Townend, with Simon Torrens taking a watching brief aboard the Joseph O’Brien-trained winner, who was having his first run since winning at Wexford in August.
Those tempted by the prohibitive odds about Willie Mullins’ favourite would probably never have felt truly comfortable and that was certainly the case with two to jump.
The pair took the last together, after which it was the JP McManus-owned Common Practice who held the upper hand, scoring by three-quarters of a length.
Torrens said: “He seems to run well after a break and has duly obliged again. I won a beginners’ chase on him in Wexford so I know him well. That Wexford race has worked out very well as everything that ran won something afterwards. I was hoping for a big run today.
“He jumped everywhere, I thought we went a nice enough gallop and it was just a case of finding out how much Paul had left. Coming to the last, I was confident I had him covered and he did it well in the end.
“To ride any sort of winner is brilliant and to ride another Grade Three winner is great.”
Fun Fun Fun would have been a leading rival to stablemate High Class Hero but was withdrawn due to ground conditions.
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