€155,000 Talhouët-Roy 3yo Hurdle: McTigue, the unknown quantity

October 15, 2022, Auteuil Racecourse (Paris). – He was the lone stranger in this €155,000 Georges de Talhouët-Roy 3yo Hurdle race (Gr2). Irish raider McTigue (Fracas) still got the best of the French, beating St Donats (Saint des Saints) at the end of a fierce fight revealing a higher will to win.

Always pointed in the leading group, St Donats looked like he was well en route to a repeat win after his convincing comeback. However, between the two last hurdles, the diminutive but brave McTigue (Fracas) hung on. Even though he didn't land perfectly at the last, he still managed to outstay his rival while ten lengths behind, Goliath du Rheu (Castle du Berlais) was trailing in 3rd.

A consistent handicapper over the flat when trained by Jim Bolger in Ireland, McTigue was geared to the jumps scene in September only, only after being unsold at Goffs Ireland at €125,000. Now trained in Ireland by Emmet Mullins, he had just won a juveniles' event at Sedgefield, but that hurdle was a more consistent dish to swallow.

Bred by Marguerite Joyce, the winner is sired by Fracas (In The Wings), a Gr2 winner and Gf1 placed. His dam Tradfest (High Chaparral) went to sud a maiden, and McTigueis her first foal.