THE Welcome Stakes attracted a total of 120 starters on the Friday afternoon of the Cavan Winter Festival, each hoping to gain experience in the ring before the bigger money classes later in the weekend.

Some 46 of the original 120 managed to produce a clear round with Bernard Reynolds’ eight-year-old gelding Kathleens Candy Clover by Sligo Candy Boy the eventual winner. Named after her breeder Kathleen O’Reilly and ridden by John Mulligan, the mare stopped the clock at 52.54 as the 86th to go to claim the win.