Coolmore N.H. Sires Mogul Irish EBF Mares Champion Hurdle (Grade 1)

LIKE most of the week when it came to Willie Mullins-trained runners in Grade 1s, it was a case of one-way traffic in the Coolmore N.H. Sires Mogul Irish EBF Mares Champion Hurdle as Echoes In Rain brushed aside her rivals with the minimum of fuss.

The 13/8 joint-favourite made it eight wins in the last 10 runnings of this top-level prize (and nine in total) for Mullins, with Paul Townend always looking confident on the nine-and-a-half-length scorer.

Barnane Stud’s seven-year-old by Authorized was never able to get involved from well off the pace in a tactical Mares’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival last time, running on for fourth when eight and a quarter lengths behind runner-up Love Envoi.

That rival, sent off 13/8 at the head of the market, could not reproduce her Cheltenham effort here and disappointed in last of the six-strong field.

Mullins said: “She was very impressive. Once again, Paul just rode her with complete confidence - he’s transferring his confidence through to his horses and they are on fire with it.

“She’s improving all the time. She’s hard on herself but is just about learning to settle now. We’ll probably go back on the flat with her but flat racing does upset her a little bit. We’ll see and have a good chat with the owners.

“She got very wound up at Cheltenham but I think she’s maturing. Some year she might be good enough to go back there. She’ll be aimed at it next year anyway.”

Bunina big effort

John McConnell’s bold call to run 139-rated stable stalwart Anna Bunina in this Grade 1 - just a week on from finishing third in the Scottish Champion Hurdle - was vindicated when the 28/1 shot claimed second.

“I wish she was human so I could marry her right now!” said her trainer.

“She’s an incredible mare. Kitty’s Light went from winning the Scottish Grand National to following up in the Bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown a week later, and this mare has gone from Ayr to here in the same timeframe.

“We had taken some confidence from seeing [Scottish Champion Hurdle second] Colonel Mustard finished third to State Man on Friday.

“At this time of year you just don’t know whether horses will run up to their ratings, and she wasn’t a million miles off them anyway. Getting Grade 1 black type is fantastic. You never want her career to end.

“We’ll go back to the flat this summer. We were thinking about retiring her after that but you never know, we’ll see what her body tells us. On that evidence, you wouldn’t be putting her away just yet.”

Closutton Racing Club manager James Fenton was thrilled by the effort of third-placed Shewearsitwell on her final start before retiring.

“She’s in foal to Walk In The Park and this was her last run,” he said.

“To wrap her career up by getting Grade 1 blacktype is tremendous. She’s been a fantastic mare for the club and it’s a bit emotional. She went through a lot. She broke her face and fractured her hind leg.

“Everything went wrong at times and we missed out on winning a Grade 1 in the Royal Bond Novice Hurdle [in 2020] when we were of the opinion she’d have won it easily. I’d like to thank her owner Cathal Ennis for leasing her to us for so long and listening to us. It’s been fantastic.”