For the second year in succession, it was a Monbeg Syndicate-owned Irish point-to-point winner who landed the valuable Goffs Thyestes Chase, following the success of Invitation Only at Gowran Park on Thursday afternoon.
12 months ago it was Monbeg Notorious that was flying the flag for the Doyle brothers, with Invitation Only very much upholding their honours with his gallant success.
A debut four-year-old maiden winner for Sean Doyle at Ballynoe, the son of Flemensfirth bypassed an intended engagement in the Grade 2 Chase at Thurles on Sunday, and the warm favourite battled gamely when given a persistent challenge by the always prominent pace-setter Alpha Des Obeaux, to win the €100,000 contest by a length and a quarter.
It was an agonising defeat for leading point-to-point rider Rob James who was forced to settle for second aboard the 20/1 Tinahely winner, having been aboard Invitation Only when he won his maiden point for Doyle as a four-year-old.
It was a dominant result for Irish Pointers in the 2018 renewal of the Grade A contest, with the first six finishers all hailing from the point-to-point fields, as the Invitation Only and Alpha Des Obeaux were chased home by Up For Review, Out Sam, Irish National winner General Principle (Stuart Crawford), and Mall Dini.
Invitation Only will likely have some big spring targets ahead of him, as the Flemensfirth gelding holds Grade 1 entries in the Ryanair Chase and Magners Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival, and he has had his price for the Gold Cup cut in the Gold Cup ante-post market, available at 25/1.
It is a fourth year in a row that an Irish point-to-point graduate has won the valuable handicap, as he follows in the footsteps of My Murphy, Champagne West and Monbeg Notorious.
Invitation Only wins the Thyestes Chase for Ruby Walsh and Willie Mullins, justyifying favouritism in the Gowran Park feature. pic.twitter.com/BOlAEV16yO
— RTÉ Racing (@RTEracing) January 24, 2019
