AN outstanding week at Ballybrit got even better for Gordon Elliott on day six when Winning Smut stayed on strongly to take the feature €110,000 BoyleSports Handicap Hurdle, though the biggest talking point from the listed event was the controversial start that saw prominent fancy Dream On Baby left at the tapes and subsequently declared a non-runner by the stewards. The matter is now to be investigated by a senior racing official, according to the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board's stewards' report.

There was some late support for the Emmet Mullins-trained Dream On Baby in the ring, backed from 11/1 to 8/1 before the off, but she essentially never took part after the rest of the field kicked on and Donagh Meyler stayed a number of lengths behind. On the face of it, it seemed perplexing that the starter let the race begin when one of the runners was so far behind the pack. Meyler reported to the clerk of the scales that he was "the only one to do what he was told at the start and was left 10 lengths as a consequence".

A lengthy inquiry took place after Winning Smut had done enough to beat game front-runner Fascile Mode by two and a quarter lengths.

Starter Joe Banahan said he had instructed all riders to go back to the hurdle behind them after their initial approach to him, though "not all riders went back as instructed". However, he accepted Meyler "had gone back and was aware that he was behind and heard him calling out but thought he was closer to the field".

Having "decided that this was a case of starter error", the stewards declared Dream On Baby a non-runner and referred their finding - and the issues of starter compliance from all riders bar Meyler - to a senior racing official for further investigation.

All stakes were refunded to those who backed Dream On Baby, and a rule four of €0.10 was announced on track - though the deducation was only communicated over the racecourse PA system after the running of the following race. That reportedly caused issues for some on-course bookmakers, who were left out of pocket after paying out initially following the 'winner all right' being signalled, a time when no rule four details were supplied. This process is expected to be investigated by the IHRB too.

The entire incident will have added to the frustration of Meyler after being demoted to second over interference in Thursday's Galway Hurdle.

Elliott, who took this race 12 months ago with smart stayer The Wallpark, has already scooped the Galway Plate and Galway Hurdle this week - as well as a beginners’ chase with the talented King Of Kingsfield - so this result would have been the icing on the cake for his Cullentra team at Ballybrit. The winning 13/2 joint-favourite is owned and bred by Denis Reddan, and joined his current trainer from the recently retired Michael Hourigan.

Lisa O’Neill, representing Elliott, said: “Jack [Kennedy] gave him a beautiful ride up the inside. We probably didn't know how good he was coming into this but he scraped in down the bottom of the weights and having a feather weight around here in those competitive handicaps helps.

“Maybe he got there a bit soon, but he toughed it out in the end. It’s great for the owners, who bred him and have been in racing a long, long time. Hopefully there’s plenty more to this horse and he could be one for Listowel.”