THE Jane Buchanan-bred Malone Road made a winning return from injury, and a successful debut over hurdles, when landing the second division of the two-mile maiden hurdle at Kilbeggan last Friday evening.

Trained by Gordon Elliott for Cheveley Park Stud, and ridden by Keith Donoghue, the six-year-old Kalanisi gelding justified long odds-on favouritism by nine and a half-lengths.

Importantly, having suffered two knee injuries, he was declared sound after the race which came 642 days after he had landed the second of two bumpers, from two starts, at Punchestown in November 2018.

In April that year, Malone Road had been knocked down to Elliott and agent Tom Malone for £325,000 at the Goffs Aintree Sale following his debut win in a four-year-old point-to-point maiden at Loughanmore just two weeks earlier.

He was consigned to the sale by the Newlands Farm yard of Larne trainer Stuart Crawford who had saddled the bay to win that maiden in the breeder’s own colours.

Malone Road is the fourth of eight recorded foals out of the 2001 Zaffaran mare Zaffarella who won four times over hurdles and has bred the six-time winner Windsor Avenue (by Winged Love) and the four-time winner Ravenhill Road (by Exit To Nowhere). Hollymount, her 2016 filly by Jet Away, was due to point-to-point out of the Crawford yard last season.

Zaffarella is a half-sister to the six-time winner Prosecco and chances are that effervescent beverage, or something similar, has oft’ been consumed to celebrate the wins of her progeny.

Cartmel

Two 11-year-old winners at Cartmel on Saturday had northern breeders. The first of the pair was the Dianne Sayer-trained Beeno who made most of the running to land the extended two-mile, one-furlong handicap hurdle in the hands of Conor O’Farrell.

This was a seventh career success, all over hurdles and six in Cartmel, for the Exit To Nowhere gelding who was bred by Anne Kirkwood out of the King’s Theatre mare Kay Theatre.

Carrying a GB suffix, the Desert King gelding King Alfonso, who is trained by Dai Burchell, recorded his ninth win when going clear on the run-in under Ben Jones to take the handicap chase over a similar trip. King Alfonso was bred by Alfred Buller out of the Terimon mare Satire.

The Caroline Bailey-trained Coole Lion won for the second time in his career when claiming the extended three-mile handicap chase at Southwell on Monday under Sean Bowen. The six-year-old Presenting gelding was bred by Peter Boyd out of the unraced Old Vic mare Kayanti, dam previously of the Grade 2-placed, three-time winner, Finawn Bawn.

On the third time of asking, the Eve Johnson Houghton-trained two-year-old Coco Bear (by Kodi Bear) landed the six-furlong nursery at Yarmouth on Tuesday in the hands of Oisin Murphy. The brown colt was bred by McCracken Farms out of the New Approach mare House Of Roses, dam also of the dual winner Primeiro Boy (by Zebedee).

Woods Rosbotham bred a smart winner in Britain last weekend out of the Roselier mare Bellaney Jewel who won a point-to-point, two races over hurdles and five over fences. However, this six-year-old out of the mare won’t be heading for the track as she, Cooley Rosalent, is by Lisa Rosbotham’s Dutch Warmblood stallion Valent and her win came in a division of the CCI2*-S at the Burgham International Horse Trials.

Cooley Rosalent is now in the care of Britain’s Oliver Townend having been first produced here, without the prefix, by Dundalk-based Colin Halliday. He partnered the grey to win the four-year-old young event horse championship at Balmoral in 2018 before she finished second at the Dublin Horse Show where she was purchased by Richard Sheane of Cooley Farm.