WILLIE MULLINS DUO Shaneshill and Nichols Canyon fell just short as Rawnaq won the Calvin Houghland Iroquois Hurdle, the first leg of a new $500,000 transatlantic challenge.
Ridden by Jack Doyle, Rawnaq had just enough left at the finish to beat Shaneshill and Danny Mullins by a neck, with Ruby Walsh and Nichols Canyon a further three lengths back in third.
Mullins sent two of his stable stars to Tennessee in a bid to land the American Grade 1, which kicks off the international competition.
Sponsors Brown Advisory will pay a $500,000 bonus if any horse wins both the three-mile Iroquois and the World Hurdle at Cheltenham in the space of 12 months.
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