AFTER a somewhat frustrating weekend that yielded five runner-up finishes, Gordon Elliott got back amongst the winners with a double which was completed by the smart-looking Mars Harper in the Cummins Hardware I.N.H. Flat Race.

This Aidan O’Ryan-owned son of Sulamani, who was a 10th individual bumper winner for the trainer this season, was returned at 16/1, with Elliott supplying a much shorter-priced runner in fellow newcomer Elusive Gigolo.

However, Mars Harper was much the best horse on show here as he gave rider Hugh McOwan his second success on the track. The winner came from last to tank his way into a share of the lead inside the final half mile and he left his rivals for dead over the last couple of furlongs to win by seven and a half lengths.

“He looked good. At home he’d been doing fine without being asked too much so hopefully there’s plenty to look forward to. He might go for a winner’s bumper,” stated Elliott.

The trainer was earlier set to take the wraps off Malone Road but the drying ground meant that he skipped the Broderick’s Electrical Maiden Hurdle.

Elliott still supplied the winner though as Uncle Henry (17/2) and Keith Donoghue foiled a gamble on the 5/4 favourite Kendancer. The Kieron Gammell-owned winner, who was running for the first time since December 2018, jumped much better than Kendancer and that was the deciding factor in him holding off the market leader by a head.

“That was a nice performance and he will settle better with that run behind him. It’s great for Kieron as that’s the first horse he has had with us and this horse should win again for him,” remarked Elliott.

Few horses seem to appreciate the demands of Ballinrobe as much as Brogine and the Seamus Braddish-trained mare made it three wins from five outings at the track in the Burleigh Accountancy Handicap Hurdle over an extended three miles.

Some five years after she won a bumper at this track and fresh from a second to The Trigger at Galway, Brogine (5/1) looked as good as ever under Cathal Landers. She eased through from the rear to lead before two out and had vastly more to spare than the winning margin of three lengths might suggest.

“I’ve only ridden her four times and I’ve won on her three times and been second once so I was delighted to get the ride on her again,” reported Landers.

Fellow Limerick trainer Eric McNamara also got amongst the winners as Drifting Back (6/1), ridden by his son Conor, took the Red Mills Irish EBF Auction Maiden Hurdle which represented the curtain raiser of this excellent season long series.

On his first outing since March, this 104-rated six-year-old did well to pull victory out of the fire as the front-running Rippon Lodge seemed to have this race sewn up after two out only to yield to the winner’s sustained effort late in the day.

This was the trainer’s first winner for Newcastlewest-based owner Tadhg Geary.

“This series deserves a lot of praise and it’s nice to win a maiden with this horse. He’ll stay hurdling for a couple of months and then we might look at chasing,” commented McNamara.

The meeting played host to the second juvenile hurdle of the season and, as ever, previous experience over flights was invaluable as Little Brother (9/2) progressed from his sixth to Longclaw at Roscommon seven days previously.

For the final half mile of the J.J. Burke Car Sales 3-Y-O Maiden Hurdle, the Kevin Brouder-ridden Little Brother went toe to toe with Calidus Mirabilis and he took that one’s measure in the straight to score by a length and a half, with Perry Owens flashing home for a close third. This was a much-improved effort from the winner who had around 17 lengths to make up on the second from their Roscommon run.

“At Roscommon he didn’t travel or jump as well as he’d schooled but this was much better. He’s been busy enough so might only run a couple of more times this year,” reflected James Nash who trains this €3,000 yearling for the Little Brother Partnership.

IT was a red-letter evening for a couple of young amateurs who rode their first winners and the second of these to notch up a landmark success was John Kirwan when he struck aboard Declan Queally’s Winsor Vixen (4/1) in the Bank Of Ireland Handicap Hurdle.

His nine-year-old mount lined up as a 21-race maiden but a strong-finishing effort in this two-and-three-quarter-mile affair enabled them to defeat Moyode Gold by three parts of a length. Kirwan, who was having just his fourth ride on the track, reported that the winner had been purchased off Done Deal.

Earlier, 19-year-old Cathal McCormack struck aboard the Eddie Cawley-owned and trained Breezy Bell in the second division of the Yupana Inc. California Handicap Hurdle.

This former German-trained flat winner was a well-backed 9/2 shot on her first run since February and she registered a comfortable four-and-a-half-length triumph over Fair Minded.

The first division of the 80-95 rated handicap hurdle went to Jessica Harrington’s Helier’s Bay (5/1).

This lightly-raced six-year-old showed ability in a couple of maiden outings last winter and returned from a seventh-month break in great shape.

Sean O’Keeffe produced the Flyers Syndicate-owned mare to lead at the last and she won nicely to look like one that could follow-up in the coming weeks.

BELGOPRINCE attracted the attention of the stewards after finishing a staying-on fifth in the juvenile hurdle and the ensuing running and riding enquiry resulted in a €2,000 fine for Tony Martin, a 10-day suspension for jockey Liam McKenna and a 42-day ban for the horse.