Noble Endeavor coasts to Paddy Power Chase

Noble Endeavor produced a superb finish to coast to victory in the Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown.

The Gordon Elliott-trained horse went off at 6/1 and showed his class in winning by three and a half lengths.

Willie Mullins' The Crafty Butcher was the hot favourite and remained in contention close to the end but Davy Russell asked for a change of gear when landing after the last and Noble Endeavor provided it to romp to victory.

The Crafty Butcher held on for second place ahead of Oscar Knight who came third, with Stellar Notion grabbing fourth place.

Russell was understandably thrilled with the victory.

"To be honest I thought I would never win the likes of a Paddy Power because of my weight," he said. "All the credit has to go to Gordon, he had him spot on.

"A big handicap like this gives the rest of us a chance to get a good payday!"

Elliott meanwhile was delighted with this big win over his rival Mullins.

"We were hitting the crossbar all week but they are running well," he said.

"That's brilliant for Chris Jones. He's been a big supporter of the yard and I'm delighted to be able to repay him with a nice winner like this.

"We were probably a bit further back than we wanted to be early but they went some gallop.

"We've been second in it a few times so it's nice to win it.

"Davy has rode a lot of winners for us over the years but this has to be bang up there.

"I suppose the Irish National now would be the plan."

Photo: ©INPHO/James Crombie

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