THE paper favourite Listen Dear, from the Willie Mullins stable, became an even skimpier favourite for the opening Holycross Mares Chase at Thursday’s Thurles fixture, following the defection of half the field, which turned the race into a match between the 1/12 market leader and recent Wexford casualty Thanks For Tea.

However, there were a few blips along the way for Ruby Walsh’s mount, who got a bit low at the sixth fence and dived at the fourth from home, but she was soon back on an even keel and was not extended to account for her solitary rival by half a length in the colours of the Supreme Horse Racing Club, many of whose members were on hand to greet their Robin Des Champs six-year-old.