The Gigginstown House Stud owned, Gordon Elliott trained Mengli Khan got off the mark at the third attempt over hurdles today, landing the opening At The Races Maiden Hurdle at Navan today on seasonal under jockey Jack Kennedy.

A dual flat winner, and mid 90s rated flat runner when trained in England by Hugo Palmer, Mengli Khan had previously raced twice over hurdles last season and today was having his first run since February. The son of Lope De Vega raced quite keen before eventually scoring a comprehensive and encouraging win over Edelpour

Afterwards Elliott said “he did it the hard way and they didn’t go fast enough and he was fresh enough.

“He jumped better than he did last year but he was hard enough on himself, and I was happy the way he galloped to the line.

“With the size of him, I always felt he would be a better horse this year.”

Quotes from Alan Magee