War Thunder, left, beats Glyde Ranger © Photo Healy Racing
War Thunder continued Paul Fynn's purple patch (three winners from his last five runners) when seeing off Glyde Ranger in the apprentice handicap at Sligo.
The pair had the spoils to themselves as they kicked on from the field over a furlong out and it was War Thunder who was just the stronger at the business end from Glyde Ranger who used up petrol to make headway out wide.
War Thunder prevailed by half a length at 5/1 and was more than double those odds in morning trading. Glyde Ranger, who won his sole race over a similar trip at this track in August last year, was a 12/1 chance. Enquire Within (9/1) was almost five lengths off the runner-up in third.
This was the six-year-old gelding's first run for Flynn who said: "I didn't particularly fancy him.
"He's a grand horse and had a bit of form. He'd a few runs in Galway that were okay. One of them was behind a horse of mine, Golden Sandbanks, and even that run was probably good enough to win this race.
"I'm not allowed ride him, but I rode him a few times and didn't like him too much!
"He showed more in the race than he has been doing on the gallops. He stayed at it well and we just left everything (headgear) off him for his first run (for us).
"It wasn't a great race, but he got the job done. The owner (Old Stock Partnership) has stuck with him and deserved some kind of reward."
There was a nasty incident down the back when Neddies Boy slipped up and brought down Hangry Jockeys Wayne Hassett and Dylan Kidd were seen walking away.
Additional reporting by Mark Nunan
