Double for Donovan as Mason outstays rivals A bumper winner over 2m4f on his previous start at Leopardstown, Barnahash Mason (3/1) again showed good reserves of stamina when giving weight and a beating to eight rivals in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden Hurdle at Thurles. The Sandmason gelding wasn’t great at several obstacles in the two mile-seven contest and made a bad blunder three out, but Philip Donovan, completing a double after Dancing Jeremy’s win in the opener, sent him on before the next and he forged clear to beat odds-on favourite Rusty Harkness by 11 lengths. Jonathan Sweeney, who trains the seven-year-old for his father John, said "He jumped well early and his jumping is generally good but, whether he tweaked something or not, I thought he was beaten after making a mistake at the top of the hill. For the mistakes he made, he did it well in the end and you'd be very impressed. "You wouldn't be going to any other track only here, due to the bad weather, as he isn't suited by heavy winter ground. "He had been ready for a point-to-pointing some time ago but had a small setback, although hopefully now that was all for luck as he is winning. I think he'll be better on nice ground." Additional reporting by Tom Weekes
