Racing: The Sean Treacy-trained Mistletoeandwine was a topically named winner of the featured Tattersalls Ireland EBF Mares Novice at Gowran Park yesterday, where the daughter of Un Desperado overturned 4 to 6 favourite Stashedaway.
The winner was always prominent and was well clear of her rivals from the fourth-last fence, easily defeating Reuben Jane by nine lengths with Stashedaway behind in third.
Treacy later stated that "she jumps well and we will try to win some black-type now".
The opening race was won by the Noel Meade-trained Deep Return, who was maintaining his 100 per cent race record after winning on his debut in a bumper at Downpatrick recently. Ian Power's mount was always prominent and led at the second last before defeating Longueville Quest by two lengths.
Meade said: "He's a nice horse but just needs to settle better."
The well-backed Green Belt Flyer was an impressive winner of the two-mile novice hurdle under Tommy Treacy. Winning trainer Jessica Harrington said he was running over the wrong trip at Sandown "but over two miles I wouldn't be afraid to take on the best novices".
In this race jockey Sam Curling was adjudged to have made insufficient effort on 50 to 1 outsider Point Blank, who finished ninth. Thus the stewards reported that the jockey was not allowing the horse to run on its merits and trainer Enda Bolger received a €800 fine, the horse was banned from running for 42 days while Curling received a 21-day suspension.
Royal All Star made all under promising seven pound claimer Robbie Colgan to win the three mile maiden hurdle for trainer Ger Lyons, while An Culainn Beag justified her owner John Place's decision to keep the mare in training when landing the two-mile four furlong handicap hurdle.
Meanwhile, the opening event at Ludlow yesterday turned into a farce with seven of the 14 runners taking the wrong course.
Claire Stretton took a crashing fall from Mizinky at the first flight in the Tanners Claret Juvenile Novices' Selling Hurdle, which meant the obstacle had to be omitted on the final circuit while the conditional jockey was attended to by paramedics.
With the hurdle dolled off, the field split into three groups, with a trio of runners choosing to run around the outside, some going on to the chase course and the rest going inside the obstacle.
Those who took the wrong course had to run round the stricken Stretton. The 20 to 1 winner, Dream Falcon, kept the race after jockey Rodi Greene was deemed to have taken the correct outside course, along with La Rose (11 to 2) and Margarets Wish (15 to 2), who both finished well beaten, but were promoted to second and third respectively.
Stretton was feared to have been seriously injured and an air ambulance was called, but when she regained consciousness she was taken to hospital by a racecourse ambulance.
The seven riders who took the wrong course - Marcus Foley, Timmy Murphy, Mark Nicolls, James Davies, Paddy Brennan, Antony Evans and Gabriel Hannon - were banned for 19 days, with the suspensions due to start on December 29th.
