Yeah Man proved to be one of the weekend’s track highlights for ex-pointers when he continued his trainer Gavin Cromwell’s strong strike rate with his English raids when landing the £100,000 Grand National Trial at Aintree.
A Loughanmore five-year-old maiden winner for Cormac Doyle, his half-brother co-incidentally repeated the feat of making a winning debut in the pointing fields at the age of five, when Doyle unleashed The Jukebox Kid, just 24 hours after that Haydock big-race success.
Kept wide by his rider Jack Hendrick in the Tattersalls NH, DPL and ppmservices.ie five-year-old geldings’ maiden, the son of Jukebox Jury travelled ominously well on the heels of the long-time leader Ronnie Rules, and once pouncing early in the home straight he swiftly had the measure of his five rivals to run out a 16-length winner over the recent Ballinaboola third Achille Des Rocs.
🇮🇪 The first Irish-trained winner of the @haydockraces Grand National Trial for 29 years
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) February 17, 2024
Yeah Man - smart performance for @SWFlanagan & that man Gavin Cromwell pic.twitter.com/Achn0apZhn
"I bought him on the strength of his half-brother Yeah Man. I bought him from Pat Fenlon, who I bought Yeah Man off as well,” Doyle said of the €31,000 Derby sale purchase.
“We fancied him today and he is very similar to Yeah Man. He is a lovely, laidback horse who jumps very well. I'd say the future is bright for him and he'll head to the sales now."
The victory featured as the first leg of a Tinahely double for Hendrick and Doyle, with Borna Gem also getting on the scoreboard in the mares’ maiden later on the card, and it marks a welcome change in fortunes for the Monbeg handler, whose first success of the campaign had only come a week earlier with Fancy Prospect in Tallow.
"I don't know what was wrong with the horses, but they were just scoping wrong, and bloods were wrong.
“They are all back right now anyway. We have a good few of them left to come out and with a bit of luck we’ll have a few more winners."
