MULTIPLE champion amateur Patrick Mullins enjoyed a productive end to this fixture as he partnered a pair of odds-on shots to victory. In Finest Evermore the decorated rider teamed up with a filly of considerable potential.

On her racecourse debut last October the daughter of Yeats was placed in a three-year-old bumper at Exeter for Harry Kelly and last Friday’s four- and five-year-old fillies’ bumper represented her first start since then.

Now under the care of Willie Mullins and sporting the colours of the Leinster Partnership, the four-year-old was returned a well-backed 8/13 favourite. Finest Evermore was hard on the bridle at all stages and recorded a facile five-and-a-half-length triumph.

“She is not flashy at home but always finishes out her work well and the strong pace today suited her,” reflected the rider. “I wouldn’t rule out her running in a flat race.”

Michael O’Donovan, who rode the fourth-placed That’s Lifebuoy, was given a three-day whip suspension.

Mullins had earlier teamed up with his cousin Emmet to land the 80-109 rated three-mile handicap hurdle aboard Pilbara who also went off at 8/13. After landing a huge gamble at Tipperary recently, the Paul Byrne-owned gelding found himself some 20lb higher in the weights and for much of the race he looked set to make light of this rise.

However, the strong-travelling Pilbara got the last flight wrong and ceded valuable momentum to Double Windsor before righting himself to get back up by a neck. Mullins did pick up a one-day whip ban for his efforts.

Another horse to overcome a less than fluent jump at the last flight was Joseph O’Brien’s Chead Solas (3/1) who added the three-mile maiden hurdle to the victory he recorded in a bumper at Punchestown in November 2018.

On his first outing since October, J.J. Slevin’s mount looked quite comfortable as he tackled this trip for the first time and despite that error at the last, he got up to defeat the 33/1 newcomer Banogue’s Bonus by a length and a quarter.

The victorious six-year-old is owned by Rectory Road Holdings Limited and might just progress into a decent staying novice over the coming months.

The runner-up’s rider Peter Kavanagh picked up a two-day whip ban and Donie McInerney was suspended for three days for his efforts on the third-placed horse.

ANNA Bunina (2/1) took full advantage of by far her easiest assignment since going jumping as she bolted up in the four-year-old fillies’ maiden hurdle. This John McConnell inmate, who was placed at listed level last term and was thought good enough to contest the Triumph Hurdle, looked a possible winner at Bellewstown last time only to exit two out.

She was in total control for the duration of the straight and crossed the line 11 lengths clear of Guinevere. This Caroline Ahearn-owned filly will have no trouble adding to her haul over the coming months.

In the four-year-old colts’ and geldings’ maiden hurdle, the Gavin Cromwell-trained Yafordadoe readily justified his position as the 15/8 favourite. Nothing was travelling as well as Jonathan Moore’s mount in the straight and the Zebedee gelding cruised away from his rivals in the closing stages for an easy success.

“He had a busy time of things last year between the flat and then going hurdling and his form tailed off a little bit but he’s come back in great shape from a break and he’s done that nicely,” reported Moore whose mount is owned by the Yafordadoe Racing Partnership.

FOR the second week in succession, Edward O’Grady and owner Brian Comer teamed up to strike with a useful type as Act Of God (16/1) returned from six months off to defeat the odds-on Shanroe in the two-mile handicap hurdle.

The latter was seeking a hat-trick but he just couldn’t chase down Act Of God from the second last and the Camelot gelding hit the line with five and a half lengths to spare. This was Rachael Blackmore’s second victory on Act Of God after they teamed up to win a maiden on the flat at Tramore last August.

“I was hoping he would run well in his first handicap hurdle,” reflected O’Grady. “He’s won twice at Tramore so he could go back there and he could go back on the flat too.”

Listowel-based trainer Thomas O’Connor sent out his first winner for 14 months when My Lovely Boy (6/1) and Sean O’Keeffe took the second division of the 80-95 rated two-and-a-half-mile handicap hurdle.

The O’Connor-owned five-year-old, who encountered Pilbara at Tipperary last time, defeated Winsor Vixen by half a length. The gelding’s intended partner Gearoid Brouder unfortunately forgot to complete the mandatory medical screening.

There was a big gamble on the Emmet Mullins-trained Seabord and he was backed from 9/2 into 8/13 before finishing eighth on his first run for two years. He was found to have a bilateral nasal discharge post-race and to be stiff behind.

The other division of the 80-95 rated handicap hurdle went to the Jimmy Finn-trained Galuppi (12/1) whose only other success came at Fakenham all the way back in November 2015.

Here the Kevin Sexton-ridden Galuppi got the better of Golden Symphony by a length and three-quarters to reward the patience of his owner, Michael Kavanagh.