Call Me Dara sprang a 33 to 1 shock to land yesterday's £125,000 paddypower.com handicap chase and catapulted her trainer, Robert Tyner, into the spotlight.
Tyner may be unused to that - it had been almost 20 years since he'd been to Leopardstown and he got lost on route - but he handled it with all the aplomb his horse showed in delivering a six length rout to 22 opponents.
"This is for all the point-to-point followers," grinned 39-year-old Tyner and this was indeed a lucrative success for racing's grassroots although typically the bookmakers were feeling no cold.
"An absolute bonanza. We should run one of these races a week," the sponsor's spokesman laughed and he could almost be forgiven considering Call Me Dara paid a colossal 169 to 1 on the Tote.
Nevertheless, the winner had opened a 50 to 1 shot and Tyner helped himself to a little of it but this was a victory for what are often referred to as the little men.
"She was bred by my father-in-law and is owned by a friend of mine," said Tyner who trains 20 horses, most of them point-to-pointers, at his little known yard in Dunderrow, near Kinsale, Co Cork.
It's a location slightly out of the racing mainstream - "it means a lot of travelling but we have to keep going and do the best we can" - but it brought Tyner into contact with Bandon farmer Richard Walshe who owns Call Me Dara.
Tyner was a stalwart rider on the southern point-to-point scene for many years but while names such as Williamson and Maguire went on to riding fame, Tyner has focused on the less glamorous side of racing.
"It's my first time to Leopardstown in almost 20 years. I remember I led up a horse that my father-in-law, Gerald Donovan, had," he said but the point-to-point basics of sound jumping and stamina served Call Me Dara well yesterday.
The mare was always in the first three and jumped brilliantly under Neil Mulholland who enjoyed a remarkable first ride for Tyner. A mistake at the third last from Lyreen Wonder finally gave Call Me Dara the initiative on her own and nothing ever looked convincing enough in behind to mount a serious challenge.
The market principals never really figured with Davids Lad finishing ninth and Shannon Gale pulled up before the last. Norman Williamson reported Shannon Gale didn't handle the ground and it was Coq Hardi Diamond who short-headed the other fast finisher Montana Glen for second.
But it was Tyner's day. He had a Cork winner on St Stephen's Day and 20 minutes after the big race at Leopardstown he won the Beginners Chase at Clonmel with I Can Imagine. Not even he would have dared imagine such a Christmas beforehand.
The rest of the meeting was dominated by racing's bigger guns. John Magnier's Timber County is a 16 to 1 shot with Cashmans for the SunAlliance Hurdle after accelerating eight lengths clear of Janidou in the maiden hurdle but it was the other Magnier winner, Ned Kelly, that really grabbed the eye.
Off a slow pace, and occasional interference, Ned Kelly arrived cruising between Theseus and Bust Out on the run to the last in the future champions novice hurdle and then quickened clear for Norman Williamson.
Paddy Power were unimpressed and lengthened the winner a point to 6 to 1 for the Supreme Novices' Hurdle but Cashmans caught the popular mood and cut Ned Kelly to 3 to 1 favourite.
"It was workmanlike I suppose but the gallop made it that kind of race and he will learn from it," said Edward O'Grady. "That was just his sixth race and the first time the button has been pushed. In the circumstances it was a good performance. Norman was impressed and they don't call him grumpy for nothing!"
Other ante-post Cheltenham activity centred on Michael Cullen's bumper winner Collier County who is a 25 to 1 shot for the festival after his win but it was Aintree that interested Powers after Papillon made a winning reappearance in the dial a bet chase.
Papillon is a 14 to 1 shot for a Grand National repeat after beating the enigmatic To Your Honour by a length although the latter made life very difficult for Barry Geraghty by swerving and appearing to try and run out before the third last.
