ON the first race meeting after the funeral of Maureen Mullins, and at the racecourse she was so synonymous with having cut the tape on a brand new weigh room only last month, Saint Sam (10/11 favourite) was a most fitting winner of the feature Grade 2 Red Mills Chase at Gowran Park.

The seven-year-old, trained by Maureen’s son Willie, was having his first run in 159 days, but he has a good record when running fresh, and he had no problems with a pillar-to-post success in this two-and-a-half-mile contest. Turning in, his main market rival Riviere D’etel looked a threat but she couldn’t get close enough to land a blow, with Paul Townend’s mount easing away for an eight-and-a-half-length success.

“I think granny would have enjoyed that, it’s a pity not to have her here in the picture,” Patrick Mullins reflected. “It was a great performance and the owners Ed and Mary Ware are over to see it. It’s always great to win the Red Mills Chase - it’s one of the races we pinpoint at the start of the year.

“A small field suits him, he likes to get on with things, he wears the hood and he’s a good jumper. He is hot and we were worried that this being his first run, he’d be fresh and do too much on that ground. Paul got a couple of breathers into him and the small field races suit him down to the ground.

“The McInerney Properties Fairyhouse Chase at Fairyhouse, that’s two and a half miles, and that could suit him.”

Off the mark

Willie Mullins unusually had failed to win the Ronan Lawlor Memorial Irish EBF Mares INH Flat Race but finally got off the mark through Flashaway (2/5 favourite), who saw out the tough ground conditions best to defeat the John Ryan-trained Kate Knows Best by 10 lengths.

The daughter of Mount Nelson and the high class race mare Voler La Vedette was making her debut here, and having looked in trouble early in the straight, she knuckled down and saw it out very well.

“It means a lot to win Ronan’s race,” said winning rider Patrick Mullins who had first won this race on She’s Otto for his aunt Mags in 2016. “She was tough and hardy, and I imagine she might be better on better ground. You’d be looking at those good blacktype bumpers towards the end of the season.”

LANTRY Lady (13/8) made a real impression when she won her maiden hurdle by 14 lengths just over a year ago at this track and she confirmed the promise of that success with a comfortable victory over main market rival What’s Up Darling in the Grade 3 Red Mills Trial Hurdle for Rachael Blackmore and Henry de Bromhead.

The daughter of Saint Des Saints hadn’t run since that sole success 343 days previous, but she was able to outfight her main market rival What’s Up Darling, from whom she was receiving a stone in weight, coming away to win by nine and a half lengths.

“She is a really nice mare,” said de Bromhead. “She was a bit immature here last year so we put her away and since we’ve brought her back, she’s just had a couple of niggles so it’s taken us a while to get her going again but she was well worth it.

“I was probably concerned about fitness. When I saw how short she was, I was thinking she’d only won a maiden hurdle and this was just her second run, so as ever I always query everything, but she has confirmed what she did in her maiden hurdle and stepped forward again.

“I am delighted for the Marigas (owners), they are great supporters of ours. I think the Mares’ Hurdle has to be on the agenda. It’s a step up in trip but she strikes us at home that all she does is stay.”

The opening Sea Moon & Jukebox Jury at Burgage Stud Maiden Hurdle produced a shock 100/1 winner as Philip Fenton’s Karl Des Tourelles finished best of all to collar the main pretenders.

Out of the pack

The French-bred son of Chouer Du Nord came out of the pack to make ground up to the leaders before the turn in and had got to the quarters of Pigeon House at the last. With both that runner and Barrier, the two market leaders, now flailing after running prominently throughout, the Patricia Hogan-owned winner was six lengths ahead at the line.

Unsurprisingly, his trainer wasn’t expecting this performance, but he did feel his horse had been showing up well at home.

“This horse has never ran in a schooling hurdle or anything so I’d imagine he has a nice future,” Fenton said. “I’d say ground wouldn’t matter to him. He looks good. We liked him at home and said we’d start him off here and things came up trumps that would be grand and if they didn’t we’d be looking at the bumper in Punchestown.”