Minella Machine lands Wexford finale for De Bromhead The Henry De Bromhead trained Minella Machine stepped up on a promising debut effort when winning the closing Wexfordraces.ie (Pro/Am) INH Flat Race. A former point-to-point winner, the Robcour owned gelding was fourth to subsequent Cheltenham bumper winner The Mourne Rambler on his Rules debut over Christmas. Sent off 4/5f here, John Gleeson kept it simple on the market leader, tracking Tazman Dan before coming through to lead entering the straight. Keeping on strongly inside the final furlong, Minella Machine beat Gillane by four-and-a-quarter lengths. John Gleeson: "It was straightforward enough, we went a nice even gallop. He is a horse that I'd say has improved from his first bumper start at Leopardstown, a race that has worked out quite well. It was a nice performance. "Obviously the form from Leopardstown has worked out well, with The Mourne Rambler winning the Champion Bumper and Cromwell's horse (Outofafrika) winning since as well. "I had a sit on him at home and I liked him. He was very impressive when winning his point-to-point for the Nallen's, who are great men to supply these horses. I'd say he'll improve again when he has a jump back in front of him. He is a fine big horse with a nice future. "I'd imagine he has enough done in bumpers now and he'll be a nice horse over jumps next season." Additional reporting by Donal Murphy.
