Spindleberry maintained her impeccable record over the fences with victory in the TA Morris Memorial Irish EBF Mares Chase at Clonmel.
The Willie Mullins-trained seven-year-old was second in the first class over hurdles and then made a seamless transition to bigger hurdles, winning all three starts with ease last season.
She ended last season with victory in the Grade One WillowWarm Gold Cup and started the new campaign at Listed level as the 2-5 favorite at Clonmel.
Paul Townend was in the saddle for the two-mile, five-furlong event, with Spindleberry’s two-length success the result of a fast finish after a steady run.
“We rode slowly, she stood still at the front and we ran for three furlongs, but she is very straight,” said the winning rider.
“It was a brilliant starting point on ground that wasn’t bottomless and while she was ready to run, she will get even better from it.
“She is just a very good racehorse, but you wouldn’t travel with her anymore. She is an easy ride which would also give her the opportunity to cover greater distances.
“Her hurdles form was good but she had to drop back to two miles a few times and she has gone over the fences really well and matured.”
Gordon Elliott had a smart winner of the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden Hurdle as Kovanis prevailed 9-2, before Henry de Bromhead’s Scope To Improvement won Connolly’s RED MILLS Irish EBF Auction Maiden Hurdle by a five-length margin on his debut over obstacles.
“He’s a bit keen and crazy to keep going and in fairness to Darragh (O’Keeffe) he’s done a great job of putting him behind the leader,” the winning trainer said of the 2-7 favourite.
“He jumped well, he seemed to pick up well and Darragh was happy with him.
“It was a slow race and he picked it up well, so we’ll continue to monitor him. It’s about keeping him under control. He was fresh today but will hopefully calm down as he races more.
“I’m really happy for brothers Paddy and Paul Hale (owners) and he’s a horse we like at home so we were hoping he would do that.”
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