THE most popular winner at Maralin on Saturday was Is This It who landed the six-year-old and upwards geldings’ maiden by a neck, giving rider Johnny Creswell his first success of the season.

The 2010 Mr Combustible gelding is trained for Sammy Hanna by his daughter Cathy, a nurse since 1999 and now a senior manager in patient flow at the Ulster Hospital, Belfast. Sammy, a Ballygowan dairy farmer, bred the bay out of the Old Vic mare Quinntowin who, when trained by Aaron Stronge and Sammy Wilson, ran consistently well over hurdles and fences without winning but did manage to claim a mares’ maiden under Aaron at Limavady in 2003.