BRIAN Walsh welcomed Silver Birch into the winners’ enclosure after the Aintree Grand National in 2007, and the gelding was Gordon Elliott’s first runner in the race. He had yet to saddle a winner on the track in Ireland. How that picture has changed in the subsequent years.

Walsh had reason to celebrate last weekend at Fairyhouse when his homebred Belladaball, a five-year-old daughter of Elusive Pimpernel (Elusive Quality), gained her maiden success in a listed mares bumper on the opening day of the Fairyhouse Festival meeting, beating five previous winners. This win has turned her into a valuable mare, given that she is now the second blacktype winner for her bumper-winning dam Maisy Daisy (Luso).