Penny's Bill gets the handicap spot on

REPORT FROM LEOPARDSTOWN:THE MORNING defection of topweight Newmill might have provoked some handicapping controversy in the run-up to yesterday's Pierse Hurdle, but victory for the 50 to 1 shot Penny's Bill was a shot in the arm for the actual handicap theory that everything has a chance in such a race.

Trainer Liz Doyle made the point after her biggest winner had held off the favourite, Psycho, by a head, with Carthalawn and Splurge filling the minor places.

"I've always loved this race since the days I used to work for Pat Hughes," she said, "and he won it twice with Mantles Prince (2000) and Grinkov (2001). You can win it without having a superstar, and it is a great chance for a relatively ordinary horse to win a big pot."

Penny's Bill hardly looked like a superstar prior to yesterday, but he raced like one for the 3lb claimer Seán Flanagan.

Always prominent, he had just enough in hand to hold off Psycho in a close finish that normally would have had the handicapper purring.

Instead, Noel O'Brien found himself explaining how Newmill's defection meant an automatic 8lb rise in the weights to make the new topweight, Kirbybroguelantern, carry 11.10.

"A condition of this race, in a directive from HRI (Horse Racing Ireland), is that the minimum topweight is 11.10. When Newmill came out, the rise was automatic," he said.

"It wasn't like most other situations when making an alternative handicap."

Another result of the weights rise was jockey Andrew McNamara's attempt to get off Siege Of Ennis and ride Fen Game for his retainer, Edward O'Grady. Fen Game's original weight was too light for McNamara and Séamus Heffernan substituted.

However, after McNamara requested the stewards to allow him switch, Siege Of Ennis's trainer, Eddie Harty, refused to allow McNamara off his horse and the stewards decided that, in the circumstances, Harty had first option on the jockey.

Ultimately, though, the end result was a fairytale result for a small yard, and Psycho's gallant performance was enough for ante-post bookmakers to slash his price for the Totesport Trophy at Newbury to 7 to 1.

Psycho's jockey, Davy Russell, had earlier enjoyed a happier time in the Grade Two Leopardstown Chase, as Merchent Paddy ran out an 11-length winner.

The Charles Byrnes-trained horse was following up a Naas victory the previous weekend, and some bookmakers were impressed enough to slap 25 to 1 quotes on Merchent Paddy for the RSA Novice Chase, formerly the SunAlliance.

"Handicaps are out after this and we will enter him in the SunAlliance and the four-miler," Byrnes said, before playing down yesterday's performance.

"It was a sub-standard race. There was no Cooldine," he added. "When we entered him it didn't look the strongest of races, and if Cooldine had run we probably wouldn't have. But he got the distance well and that gives us more options."

There were 16 to 1 quotes floating about for the Ryanair at Cheltenham following Schindlers Hunt's return to winning form in the Leopardstown Chase.

Run over two miles and five for the first time, the distance proved no trouble to Schindlers Hunt, who ended up four lengths clear of Kilcrea Castle, with the winner's stable companion, Vic Venturi, in third.

"It's nice to find out he lasts the trip and it's nice to see him back, because he is a Grade One horse," Hughes said.

Dermot Weld's Majestic Concorde made a winning debut over fences in the opener when overhauling Coscorrig on the run-in of the Beginners Chase.

"Cheltenham was not in my thoughts and there are no definite plans for him. We will see how he progresses," Weld said.

Cashmans still make last summer's Galway GPT winner a 25 to 1 shot for the Arkle.

Majestic Concorde's full brother, Elegant Concorde, was confidently expected to make a winning debut in the four-year-old bumper, but heavy rain for the second half of the afternoon didn't appear to suit him and he had to give best to Tornedo Shay.

The winner's trainer, Thomond O'Mara, will aim at the Cheltenham bumper, and he said: "He is as good as ever I've come across. He is a very good horse with plenty of boot who got there a little too soon."

A major gamble on Fistoulig came unstuck in the two mile handicap hurdle as he managed only third to Mission Possible, while P'tit Fute carried topweight of 11.7 to victory in the Pertemps Qualifier.

Appropriately enough on the day, the original topweight, Heavenly Blues, was a non-runner due to coughing.