FOR the second evening in succession there was something of a turn up in the opener as Flaming Moon (11/1) upstaged several better fancied rivals to take the Listed Colm Quinn BMW Novice Hurdle for Matthew Smith and Bryan Cooper.

This five-year-old hadn’t been in the best of form on his recent starts but his winter form included a second in a maiden hurdle at Leopardstown at Christmas and his trainer’s uncanny knack of producing his horses in the form of their lives for this meeting was again in evidence here.

Flaming Moon made a good deal of the running and, crucially, he was quicker at the last two flights than the chasing Amir Kabir which enabled him to defeat that rival by half a length while the evens favourite, Tax For Max, had to settle for a close fourth.

Owned by Debbie Kelly and Gordon Cranston, Flaming Moon was taking his career earnings past €60,000 having been picked up for a mere €2,000 as a yearling.

“He always showed plenty. He won a couple on the flat and he had some nice placed form over hurdles. I was a bit hesitant to declare him but I said he was entitled to take his chance and I’m delighted,” remarked Smith.

“He’s fairly hard on himself unless you go on in front and he’s probably better off galloping away. Our horses were a bit out of form a month or two ago and we gave them a bit of time off.

“We started having a few runners in Killarney two weeks ago and had a couple of winners so we seem to be back in form, thankfully.”

Another evens favourite came up short in the next as a back-to-form Enniskerry (8/1) saw off Midnight Run in the Latin Quarter Beginners Chase over two and a quarter miles.

Enthusiastic display

The Barry Connell-owned and -trained winner hadn’t been at his best on his last couple of runs but was restored to peak form under Sean Flanagan for whom he produced a bold and enthusiastic display up front.

On the long climb to the line, Enniskerry was joined by Midnight Run, but the eight-year-old son of Jeremy fought off that rival in determined fashion to score by six and a half lengths.

“It was his first run over fences and we were hoping he’d run well. He can be quite keen-going but fences seem to suit him and have settled him down,” said Connell.

“Hopefully we have a graded horse on our hands and he might have a break now and we’ll aim him at some of those early-season graded novice chases. Maybe he could be a horse for the Drinmore.”

Four wins

Easily one of the stories of the flat season has been the remarkable progress of Dunum (5/1) who made it four wins on the spin in the 50-80 rated Caulfield Industrial.com Handicap over seven furlongs.

As he has been for the four-year-old’s three previous wins, Wayne Lordan was on board the Maurice Burns and Michael McCartan-owned gelding.

A stall-18 draw made this a significant ask for Dunum but he got into a good position, responded well to pressure to strike the front entering the last furlong and get home by half a length from Shawaamekh.

“He’s a very tough horse and Natalia and her partner Craig have done an amazing job with him,” observed Lordan. “He jumps and travels and makes life easy for you but it was a big ask for him today given where he was drawn and he’s done well to win.”