'He has a lot of potential' - John Magnier-owned Butch Cassidy the star of Henry de Bromhead double

The form of Henry de Bromhead's string was not in doubt, and the amount of young talent at his disposal is becoming ever clearer. It was demonstrated starkly with a double in the opening two races provided by very promising young horses making their debuts for the stable.

There was something very impressive about the victory of the John Magnier-owned Butch Cassidy in the four-year-old maiden hurdle. A Walk In The Park half-brother to the brilliant but ill-fated Champion Bumper winner Fayonagh, he responded well to a very strong ride from Darragh O'Keeffe and dug deep on the run to the line to see off Goffs Defender Bumper winner Sermandzarak by half a length, with the promising Shuffle The Deck in third.

The winner had won his sole previous start in a Ballinrobe bumper in April for Philip Fenton before being sent to Knockeen, and De Bromhead said: "He's a lovely big horse with plenty of size and scope, a real chaser in the making. 

"He's still raw and whatever he did we thought he would improve on. We had plenty done with him at home, I would have liked to get a schooling hurdle into him and with that he would have jumped better, but his jumping did improve as the race went on. He has a lot of potential."

The first leg of De Bromhead's double came in the opening juvenile maiden hurdle when French import Its Bilbo was another O'Keeffe-ridden winner. Against more experienced opposition, he did not lose out in the jumping stakes and always seemed to have a bit in hand to score from Lakota Blue, with good yardstick Slurricane back in third.

"He was recommended to us after running in France in the spring and he was good there," said De Bromhead. "It was a nice performance. He's a fine, big horse and you would hope that he will improve for time. We won't be in any mad panic with him this year. Darragh said he was still a bit green but he stuck his head out well at the end."

Paddy Power introduced Its Bilbo at 33-1 for the Triumph Hurdle.

Stellar Story wins all-Elliott Florida Pearl

Whoever is to blame for the very poor turnout for the Grade 2 Florida Pearl Novice Chase, it was not Gordon Elliott or Gigginstown as they were responsible for all three runners.

The race developed into a glorified schooling session, even if the finish was an exciting one as the Jack Kennedy-ridden chase debutant Stellar Story just held off Sam Ewing on Galway winner Search For Glory, who probably would have won with a better jump at the last.

Elliott said: "I don't think either of them wanted to be in front but it was an exciting finish and full credit to Michael O'Leary for letting the three of them run. I would say if Jack had to ride it again he would have sat behind Sam the whole way and just had one go at him. The winner will go to Leopardstown at Christmas."

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