More Downpatrick joy for McLoughlin's mare Taking full advantage of her late call up, second reserve Joya Del Mar won the second division of the Denvir's Of Downpatrick Qualified Riders Handicap Hurdle at Downpatrick. A second winner for Ashbourne rider Jack Sutton, the Dermot McLoughlin-trained 11/2 chance asserted from the penultimate hurdle and ran out a four and a quarter-length winner from Colin McBratney’s 17/2 shot Gangster Granny for owners Tara Giles-Fahey and Sheila Mangan. Joya Del Mar had recorded a 14-length winning margin over the same course and distance 22 days ago. McLoughlin said: “Hey Babbs was in season this morning, so we had to come with this one. “She obviously won well here the last day, and she seems to enjoy it here. She ran in Sligo the other day and Ricky (Doyle) rode her and said she didn't even blow out a candle. I don't know, she's a tricky filly. “Once she is sweet, she keeps going and that is the main thing for them all. It was the same here the last day - when she hit the front, she seemed to relish the hill. She flew up the hill.” Additional reporting by Michael Graham.
