Camlin Park off the mark at the second attempt Having proved disappointing on her Rules debut earlier this month, the John McConnell trained Camlin Park took a significant step forward when easily winning the opening A J C Group Maiden Hurdle at Downpatrick. A former point-to-point scorer, the five-year-old was always in rear when failing to get competitive on her introduction to hurdling at Roscommon recently. Jockey Alex Harvey employed different tactics on this occasion, chasing market leader Front Door Famous from the off. Taking over at the head of affairs after the latter was untidy two out, Camlin Park went clear from the final flight to win impressively by 12 lengths. Lightning Legs stayed on to take second, with Front Door Famous a further one-and-three-quarter lengths back in third. John McConnell said: "She has improved a lot in her work at home. Alex has great faith in her. "We thought she was a nice filly, but the Roscommon race was going to bring her on. She had never been in field that size at that speed, so it brought her on a lot. We could see improvement from one race to this one. "Alex knew her from point-to-pointing days, she had been with Brian Hamilton and Alex had ridden her. We knew that she had ability. "It didn't look like the strongest of maiden hurdles, so we were fairly happy we would be there or thereabouts. "She's a nice filly and Alex's mum is in on her. I wouldn't be surprised if she is for sale - I'll sell anything! "She's a nice filly to look forward to and she will jump a fence." Additional reporting by Michael Graham.
