SPACE TRUCKER cave another fine performance when carrying off the £22,000 first prize in the Newcastle Building Society Fighting Fifth Hurdle for Jessica Harrington's stable on Saturday.
It was the first Irish success in the 27-year history of the prestigious Grade Two event which lost its principal player with the late withdrawal of former champion hurdler Alderbrook.
Kim Bailey's decision not to risk the 1995 champion on ground he considered "totally unsuitable for Alderbrook" plus the absence of Romancer meant that the eight which went to post, carried the identical weight of 10-4 - all running out of the handicap.
But even without Alderbrook, the event produced a stirring finish as Space Trucker swept to victory, followed home by Castle Sweep and Dato Star.
John Shortt always had the leaders in his sights and confidently drove Space Trucker ahead at the second last, with Dato Star still full of running at that point
The Irish horse's backers suffered a couple of anxious moments when the gelding belted the final flight, but Space Trucker retained the advantage and kept on strongly all the way to the line to win by a length from Castle Sweep, who just kept Dato Star out of second place by a short head.
A delighted Mrs Harrington, saddling her first runner at Gosforth Park, said: "I was a bit worried at the last when he made that mistake. The trouble with this horse is that he is always looking around him.
He's entered for the William Hill Handicap Hurdle at Sandown next Saturday but after this win, he's going to have a well deserved holiday now because he's been on the go since Punchestown in April.
Mrs Harrington continued: "If the ground is good at Cheltenham in March, we'll consider the Champion Hurdle but he wouldn't run if it was soft because he's a three stone inferior horse ink the mud."
A delighted John Shortt said as he returned to the weighing room: "I had so much horse under me going to the last that I couldn't get beat unless I fell. Luckily he quickly recovered from that mistake.
Another Irish trainer on the mark in England on Saturday was Mouse Morris, whose What A Question fought out the finish of the Equi Life Work Formula Long Distance Hurdle with another Irish raider, Antapoura.
Aidan O'Brien, trainer of Antapoura, was completely out of luck at the meeting and his UrUbande was surprisingly caught on the run-in by Zabadi in the Bonusprint Gerry Fielden Hurdle.
Permit-holder Walter Dennis and Coome Hill arrived home yesterday to a rapturous family welcome at their Bude, Cornwall, stables after a four and a half hour return journey from Newbury.
As well as Coome Hill, the pride of the five horses on the 450 acre establishment, Dennis was carrying in the horsebox the prize the seven-year-old won in such emphatic fashion at the Berkshire track, the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup.
Coome Hill's win has emphasised his rapid progress from point-to-pointer to the top ranks of the National Hunt game and he is now quoted as the new 14 to 1 favourite with Ladbrokes and William Hill for the Martell Grand National and 14 to 1 for the Cheltenham Gold Cup with Corals.
