Thelittleballerina puts herself firmly in the shop window Thelittleballerina was given a supremely confident ride by Joey Dunne to take the honours in the bumper at Listowel. The bookmakers sent her off 5/6 favourite on the back of a mares' bumper success at Clonmel in April. She was waited with in rear and her main danger came when Minnatrix slipped up in front of her. Dunne was still virtually motionless as he moved his mount closer in the final quarter of a mile. He did have traffic problems but, once he switched her out, she merely had to be nudged into the lead in the closing stages to prevail by two and three quarter lengths over Martymill (18/1). Echoes Of Jane took third at 12/1, beaten five lengths by the winner. Ian Donoghue said: "She was straightforward and Joey was very good on her, but he said he was lucky not be brought down (by slipping-up Minnatrix). "She is a lovely mare, was a bit gassy in the first mile, but Joey was full of confidence and took her back, and she won snugly. "There have been a few enquiries about buying her since she won at Clonmel, but nothing has happened and she is still for sale. Originally, when we got her, we thought about going point-to-point and maybe we should have, because she'd fairly have won one! "I'd love to hold on to her in my yard and don't want to lose her, so we'll see what happens now." The Raceday Stewards interviewed Mr J.P. O'Rourke, rider of sixth-placed Gusserane, concerning his use of the whip in the closing stages of this race. Evidence was heard from the rider concerned who accepted he was in breach of the Whip Regulation and apologised for his actions. Having viewed a recording of the race and considered the evidence the Raceday Stewards were satisfied that Mr J.P. O'Rourke was in breach of R.10.3(i)(time to respond) and having considered his clean record in this regard they suspended him for two racedays. Additional reporting by Tom Weekes
