WILLIE Mullins’ second challenge for the Gran Premio Merano Alto Adige Chase, a Grade 1 over three miles and a furlong, fared better than last year, but ended with Alechi Inois finishing an honourable third.

Second in the Galway Plate, Alechi Inois, ridden by Ruby Walsh, finished five lengths behind the Czech-trained winner Mazhilis, an outsider trained by Josef Vana and ridden by Jan Kratochvil. James Reveley was second on Guilliame Macaire’s well-fancied Allen Voran. Vana saddled four of the 12 runners.

The eight-year-old adapted well to the obstacles and twisting courses, which featured some huge natural hedge fences on a figure of eight course.

Philip and Louisa Carberry were represented by Chiffre D’Affaires, who made a lot of the early running after half-way.

Alechi Inois disputed the lead before the runners turned back for the home run but was left behind as the first and second moved on, although he stayed on one paced at the finish.

Mullins said: “It was his first time over the distance and he ran well and jumped well until making a bad mistake at the second-last. He lost more ground there than he was beaten by.”

SAN SIRO

British trainer Charlie Hills narrowly missed out on a Group 1 win when Jallota, ridden by Jamie Spencer was beaten by a neck in Italy’s Premio Vittorio di Capua on Sunday

“It’s annoying, very annoying,” the trainer said after the five-year-old just failed to reel in Waikika, ridden by Gerald Mosse, in the mile contest at San Siro.

“Things didn’t quite go according to plan. We rode him to get the mile and he really got it well.

“We’ve beaten the favourite [Kaspersky] but then been done by something else. He’s run a huge race. He’s one in a million.”

Always prominent under Jamie Spencer, Jallota didn’t get a clear run around the two-furlong marker and could not deny the winner.

European Jockeys Cup win for

Murzabayev

Kazakhstan jockey Bauyrzhan Murzabayev won the European Jockeys Cup held in Velka Chuchle in Prague last weekend.

Ireland was represented by Jimmy Quinn, with Gerald Mosse representing France and Darryll Holland riding for Great Britain, among a total of 16 riders.

It was believed to be the richest race day in flat racing held in the Czech Republic. Mosse took third place behind Czech rider Vaclav, while Quinn was in the points in five of the seven races.