De Bromhead's De Mer scores on hurdling debut

Hurdling debutante Fruit De Mer (30/100f) continued trainer Henry De Bromhead and jockey Darragh O’Keeffe’s excellent form with success in Naas’ Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden Hurdle today.

Winner of a Ballycrystal point-to-point on career debut in April 2024, the Basil Holian-owned son of Pour Moi was disqualified for casing interference in a Limerick bumper last March and today reappeared against 10 rivals.

Making all, Fruit De Mer was briefly pressed by runner-up Newbrook Diamond at the second-last, but finished well to score by 2.75 lengths.

De Bromhead reported “I’m delighted with that, he jumped well and Darragh gave him a super ride. It’s what we hoped he might do and he’s a horse we like. Like any of ours we’d hope he’d step forward for the run as well.

“We definitely knew we had some nice young horses last year and he was unlucky not to win his bumper, as it got taken off him.

“He’s a nice horse, he’s raw and he’s going to keep improving. He picked up there once and then just sort of kept galloping. He’s got a bit of class and he’s a nice horse.”