STILL suffering the effects of a broken leg he suffered in May, well-known England-based Irish breeder and producer Donal Barnwell watched more racing than usual on television over Christmas and was delighted to see two horses bred on the family’s Kilmannock Stud in Co Wexford return to winning ways.

On Sunday, it was Flemenstar who had Donal celebrating as he landed the Grade 1 Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown in the hands of Andrew Lynch. Now trained by owner Stephen Curran’s son Tony, the 10-year-old Flemensfirth gelding was winning for the first time since November 2013, bringing his record to nine victories over fences (four at the highest level) and one over hurdles. The bay was also successful on his only start in a point-to-point, that win coming at Loughanmore in April 2010.