Son Of Westerner Proves A Natural Over Fences

The lightly-raced Southerner (11g Westerner - Material Leader, by Supreme Leader) ran out an easy winner of his chase debut at Clonmel on Thursday afternoon.

Owned and trained by William Cronin, whose son William took the ride, the bay raced towards the back of the field for much of the two and a half mile contest. Badly hampered at the third last, he recovered and made good headway approaching the second last and soon led. Racing clear on the run-in, he scored by six lengths from the short-priced favourite Brawler.

Speaking after the race, the winning rider said, “He loves that ground, jumped well and travelled all the way. You don’t see too many 11-year-olds wearing a hood — he’s very enthusiastic and enjoys his racing. He loves being held up and passing horses.”

Bred by Christopher O’Connell, Southerner adds to two wins over hurdles, which came back-to-back last season.