Abbey Magic conjures up a narrow victory

There was a thrilling finish to the two and a half mile mares' hurdle in Wexford with Abbey Magic just getting home by a nose. Monbeg Rose was at the head of affairs but dropped out of contention coming to the last as Abbey Magic and Jaime Sommers swept by her.

They fought out the spoils on the run-in with Abbey Magic getting the decision at 8/1 from Jaime Sommers at 9/1. Billy's Hope the well backed even-money favourite was half a length adrift of the pair in third.

Exchange punters were convinced that Jaime Sommers had hit the line first as Abbey Magic traded at up to 8/1 in the photo but on this occasion eyes were deceived.

Jockey Donagh Meyler said: "It was very close, Brian (Hayes) was alongside me. It was good and close, a good tight finish. She stuck her head out and she did it well in the end. She was psyched before the race."

Handler John Berry added: "She had improved a lot from the last day and she might improve again. I don't know where she will go now but she is a chaser really, that's what she'll do next year.

"We will mind her this year, she might get a break or we could run her at Christmas somewhere. Trip is not a problem to her, she has plenty of pace.

"She just needs to strengthen up a bit. She couldn't win a mares' maiden point-to-point but she was weak."

Additional reporting by Donal Murphy