Mouse Morris may let First Lieutenant take Hennessy chance

Mouse Morris will consider the Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown on February 9th for First Lieutenant following the gelding’s fine effort in the Lexus Chase.

The nine-year-old was only beaten a length and a half by Bobs Worth in the Grade One over three miles at Leopardstown on Saturday which put behind him a disappointing run in the JNwine.com Champion Chase at Down Royal in early November.

“The form is there and the form is rock solid. He (Bobs Worth) had beaten me twice before. He’s got beaten by a Gold Cup horse, so there’s nothing to be disappointed with,” Morris said.

"I think I made a boo boo in Down Royal, you learn from your mistakes. He'll get an entry in the Hennessy, but whether he runs there or wherever, I don't know."

Crawford double
Meanwhile, Stuart Crawford continued his amazing winning streak when Fine Rightly and Trucking Along, both ridden by his brother Steven, gave the Northern Ireland trainer a double at Ayr yesterday.

The Co Antrim handler is having tremendous success with his trips to Britain of late and was supplementing a brace he enjoyed at Musselburgh 24 hours earlier. Fine Rightly justified the highly-prohibitive odds of 1/10 when making a winning debut over jumps in the EBF “National Hunt” Novices’ Hurdle Qualifier.

A course scorer on his bumper bow on this same card last January, the six-year-old had been awarded a Grade Two event on appeal at Navan last month after originally passing the post in second place behind the Willie Mullins-trained Royal Caviar.

Trying hurdles in public for the first time, Fine Rightly had to work fairly hard to overcome long-time leader The Orange Rogue by two lengths.

“He’ll probably run again over hurdles but ultimately his future is over fences,”owner Patricia Duffin told Racing UK.

Trucking Along (5/2) capped another memorable day for the Larne stable when disposing of the opposition in the Non-Runner Free Bet Cheltenham 2014 At BetVictor.com Handicap Hurdle.