Rewarding week for Mags and Danny Mullins

Clonmel's maiden hurdle, for previously unplaced horses, over two and a half miles, was won by the well-supported Eternal Reward (85/40 favourite) for Mags and Danny Mullins.

Backed at bigger prices early this morning, the Mahler gelding had a good tussle with Lincall from two out and a blunder at the last by that rival handed the initiative to the five-year-old who scored by a neck in the colours of the Bossman Syndicate.

The winning rider has enjoyed a good week with his mother, having landed the Grade 3 Kilbegnet Chase at Roscommon on Monday with A Snow White Park and he said:-

“It's been a fantastic week. We've only a handful of horses to run over this period and they've all seemed to win. This fella is improving all the time.

“We thought we'd get more out of him at Galway, at the festival, and the last day he didn't jump but today it put it all together.

“If he can find that improvement again, he'll win again.

“Mags liked what she was seeing at home and he'd been working with a few of those that have been winning.

“It was nice and whoever put the dollars on, got them!

“Maybe as the ground gets softer he'll come back in trip, but it's on the slow side of good out there and two-three is the minimum you'd go.

“He was going to win a four-year-old point-to-point and got brought down at the last, so you'd be expecting him to do that.

“Mentally he's only starting to get there, to the physical side now.

“Even in Kilbeggan we didn't jump well, but he learned how to jump badly. In that situation, down to the last, there wasn't much there but he was fast away from it and that might be the winning of today.”

Additional reporting by Gary Carson