Emotional scenes after fairytale winner of Limestone Lad Hurdle at Naas
Glen Kiln proved a fitting winner of the Naas Racecourse Business Club Limestone Lad Hurdle at Naas, adding another memorable chapter to a famous set of colours.The seven-year-old races in the Bowe family silks made iconic by the much-loved Limestone Lad, whose remarkable career yielded 35 victories, including three Morgiana Hurdles, three Hatton’s Grace Hurdles and a hat-trick in this Grade Three contest between 2000 and 2002.Although Glen Kiln still has plenty to do to reach such exalted heights, Harry Kelly’s charge showed his quality once again. Runner-up to Lossiemouth in the Morgiana Hurdle at Punchestown in November, he made every yard of the running over two miles and showed real determination under Brian Hayes to repel the strong challenge of odds-on favourite Karbau by a length.The success meant a great deal to Michael Bowe, whose father James trained Limestone Lad and who has also won this race with Solerina in 2004 and 2006, as well as Sweet Kiln.“I couldn’t talk and I couldn’t walk, all I could do was cry,” he said. “You breed them, you rear them and bring them to this – I’m thrilled to bits.“People kept saying you’ll never have another one like him, but this fella is coming near that. He’ll improve again and he’ll make some chaser.“It doesn’t get any better than this. These days are hard to come by and when they do, you want to enjoy them.”Kelly echoed those sentiments, adding: “You couldn’t have written the script. It’s brilliant for Michael and John.“I’m just so delighted to have a horse like him and we think he’ll be a really good chaser next year. We’ll see how he is in the morning and make plans then.”Click here to sign up to our racing newsletter for the latest news and tips from the biggest meets
