Dual-purpose Zoffman opens hurdle account

Good things come in small parcels. He was bred by the starter (Joe Banahan) and he’s a half-brother to Sheishybrid. His other half-brother (Athlumney Warrior) won for Michael O’Callaghan on the all-weather. It’s a good family and has been lucky for us. He’ll mix it between the Flat and jumping and I’m hoping he might get one of the good Flat handicaps somewhere during the summer. He’s not very big but he carried 11-12 there and he jumps brilliant. I always said he was too small to be jumping but the first day we schooled him all he wanted to do was go. I’m sure the better ground will be a help to him.

Black Heather runs rivals ragged on hurdle debut

He’s a horse that we think an awful lot of, he has wicked gears. We brought him here the last day and thankfully Patrick Mullins minded him. He just doesn’t handle heavy ground even though he has a pedigree and looks like a horse that would. He jumps super. The plan wasn’t even to make it today, but he just jumped so well and he wasn’t going to disappoint him. He should have a nice campaign. He’s in on Saturday at Bellewstown in a 1m4f Flat maiden. He didn’t look to be too extended there, so I’d say we’ll probably have a crack at that.

Friday makes it Five career wins on hurdle debut

It was a nice start, we were coming here with a nice run in mind. She had the class to be involved but she just had to learn to settle and jump. I know she’s jumped a bit airy at a couple, but she likes her jumping. Whenever she got a hurdle in front of her in the race, she had a bit of respect for it and it settled her. She did it well. We were aiming at a couple of wee races across the water so I’m not sure what we’ll do now. There were a few in the race with really good form. She’s a classy wee mare and she’ll only beat herself more than anything. We’ll keep her hurdling for the first half of the season and then we’ll see what’s there on the Flat. The lads weren’t keen on going down the breeding route so weren’t really mad about chasing Listed races or anything on the Flat. We said ‘what’s our next option’ so we said we’d see if she takes to hurdling. The full-sister (Addosh) is not a bad hurdler and her half-sister (Stormie Outlook) actually ran in this race so there are hurdlers in the family.

Shuffle The Deck is back on song at Naas

That was nice. I thought two was a bit sharp for him. I was hoping to go to Fairyhouse or Punchestown and whether he’ll run there depends on the ground. It was just alright today, I wouldn’t have run him on anything quicker. He’s a big horse with a future in front of him, he’s a great leaper. At least he put a bad run here in the Grade 1 behind him. He was out of his comfort zone then on very bad ground. He’s taking a bit of time to mature and hopefully he goes the right way. He won a point-to-point, and I’d say he’ll make a nice three-mile chaser. I was surprised to see him win over two, which is always a good sign. He liked a bit of good ground. I thought he was a bit of a mudlark but it was bottomless here in January and I’d say he just didn’t like it.

Leahy partners first winner on tricky President

I thought the ground would improve him, but I didn’t think it would improve him that much. He’s not a bad horse, he’s a little difficult. Adam broke his hip off him here the last day he rode him, before the race. He’s a little excitable and he has a lot of growing up to do. He’s a fine big horse and he’ll do more than that. I’m not saying he’ll be going to Cheltenham or anything but he’s going to do more than that. Seeing that improvement on the ground we’ll keep him going.

Kelly gets plenty of plaudits on In For The Night

He gave it a great ride, it was absolute perfection. He did everything he was told.

Kelly & Quirke double up as Kiln Time records 40/1 surprise

We’re delighted with the day. Thanks to John and Michael for supporting me, they are great supporters and we’re having a bit of luck together. This horse just has his kinks, and it’s just about the day he decides to go. Davy O’Brien works for me at home and has done loads of cross country schooling on him to sweeten him up. Cian just knocks a tune out of horses and is fantastic. He maybe struggled with his wind in heavy ground and Cian thought the better ground helped him. He dropped his stick at the last and he thought he probably went forward after that then.

O'Sullivan delighted to team up with Queally as Jamada lands bumper