CHELTENHAM Festival-winning jockey Maxine O’Sullivan announced her retirement from the saddle after winning the Conor Lannen Country Store Ladies’ Maiden on the Emmet Mullins-trained Dream On Baby at Tramore on Thursday evening.

O’Sullivan was champion lady point-to-point rider on seven occasions, riding 80 point-to-point winners in all.

She also made her mark on the racecourse, with her success on It Came To Pass, trained by her father Eugene, in the St James’s Place Foxhunter Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in 2020 the undoubted highlight.

Maxine rode 45 winners on 13 Irish racecourses and had four winners on racecourses in the UK.

Reflecting on her career, she said: “I’ve had an unbelievable time. I loved working with my dad, riding winners for him and for my family was always very special.

“It was great sharing everything with them all the way through and most of my friends are in the weighroom too.

Highlight

“It Came To Pass winning at the Cheltenham Festival was the highlight for sure. Rathvinden was my first winner on the track for Ian Ferguson and he was a nice ride to get so early in my career, and of course Corbetts Cross was very important to me and very special for us, with Dad owning and training him in his early days.

“I’m working with Emmet all the time and I’ll continue with that and I’m enjoying my part-time role with RACE too.”

Dream On Baby ran out an emphatic winner of Thursday’s finale. The 7/4 chance, owned by the Seven Heads Group Syndicate, picked up well from over a furlong out to win by all of 12 lengths from the Eoin Griffin-trained Splashing Out.

Winning trainer Emmet Mullins said: “That’s a great result. She has been knocking on the door.

“Her form was more than good enough. It was great to get that flat win for her. The boys really enjoyed it; they are a great bunch of lads. Hopefully, we can find a few more nice horses like this for them.”

Two more sees O’Sullivan draw level

MAXINE O’Sullivan’s news stole the headlines from her cousin Alan, who had earlier recorded a double to draw level with both Eoghan Finegan and Josh Williamson at the head of the conditional jockeys’ championship on 12 winners.

The Donncha Duggan-trained Johnny Rambo bounced back from his fall at Cork to take the McDonald & Son Builders Maiden Hurdle.

The 4/1 chance headed Padraig Butler’s front-running 300/1 shot Pinkarizon at the final hurdle and drew clear inside the final 50 yards to score by two and a half lengths. The four-year-old was a Kilbeggan bumper winner earlier in the summer.

Duggan commented: “He’s a fair horse to do what he did (carrying winners’ penalty). Even in Kilbeggan, with so little track experience, it was a hell of a performance.

“Overall, he’s a very, very good jumper. We’ll see how he is over the next few weeks before making any plans.”

Second winner

Alan O’Sullivan landed a second winner as The Cobblers Wife took the Bluegrass Horse Feeds Handicap Hurdle for Tony Mullins and owner Mick Byrne.

The eight-year-old was having her first start for Mullins and she battled well from the final hurdle to get the better of the Harry Kelly-trained Princess Felicia, also at odds of 9/2, by a neck.

Mullins said afterwards: “She had a good run here her for her previous trainer on her second last start. She’s well handicapped and, if she can improve a little and build on that, we’ll go for the same type of race again.” The winner of a handicap chase at Wexford last Saturday, Rightfolksplease followed up with a battling success in the Flynn Hotel Group Handicap Hurdle in the colours of the Who Owns That Horse Syndicate.

Kevin Healy produced the Declan Queally-trained 7/4 chance to challenge Henry de Bromhead’s 6/4 favourite Churchwarden at the final hurdle, before going on to score by two and a quarter lengths.

Third of the month

Healy was also in the saddle when Rightfolksplease won at Wexford and he was riding his third winner of the month.

Declan Queally said: “He seemed in good spirits. He went out and he won on Saturday. Went out in the field on Sunday. He did two laps of the gallop Monday and two laps on Tuesday. Then out in the field for the rest of the day.

“I’m delighted. The owners are a great bunch of lads from South Kilkenny. To have the winner at Wexford the other day and here at Tramore is a dream.”

The Pimlico Racing-owned Lureka Du Noyer won the WTW Willis Rated Novice Hurdle for Henry de Bromhead and Darragh O’Keeffe.

A well-supported 5/2 favourite, the five-year-old led on the run to the penultimate hurdle and sealed the deal with a big leap at the last, coming home a length and a quarter ahead of Mark Fahey’s 3/1 chance Mr Master Mac.

LUKER’S Tipple made a winning start over fences when comfortably landing the Bar 1 Betting Rated Novice Chase.

Trained by Gavin Cromwell and again ridden by Keith Donoghue, the 13/8 favourite completed a hat-trick of wins when adding to recent hurdling victories at Downpatrick and Sligo. The five-year-old jumped well and made much of the running to win by four and a half lengths from Andy Slattery’s 5/2 shot Killeemore Lad, with Donoghue saying: “His confidence is up at the minute and he’s taking the racing well. Making the running has helped, but he’s just in a good frame of mind.”

Winning start

Successful in a maiden hurdle at Kilbeggan last month, the Kevin Coleman-trained Kasper Hauser also made a winning start over fences in the O’Neill’s Bar Beginners Chase.

Calum Hogan was in the saddle once again and he asserted on the 3/1 joint-favourite from the second last fence to beat John Queally’s 66/1 outsider Rattledelatch by four and three-quarters of a length. Coleman said of the Trevor Payne and One In A Million Syndicate-owned four-year-old: “We wanted to run in the first race over two miles. I couldn’t take on Gavin Cromwell’s (Luker’s Tipple), because he won the other night and, obviously, he had no penalty.

“We said we’d try the two-six; it had been the plan to kind of hold him up a bit, because we don’t know if he stays or not. At the end of the day, Calum wasn’t given any instructions, so he did what he had to do and he gave him a great ride. We plan to keep him going until September. The allowance is massive today - we were getting 12lb. He’s won two now, so the job is done.”