Ballykeereen a first for Barry

Ballykeereen left her rivals toiling in the home straight as she sluiced through the heavy ground for a wide-margin success in the mares bumper at Tipperary.

She travelled eyecatchingly well just behind the leaders as they turned the final bend and from there she thundered away down the outside to score by 20 lengths at 9/1.

The 9/2 favourite Who Let De Dogsout won the race for minor honours from Fennis Moll (12/1).

Second-season trainer David Barry is responsible for the seven-year-old mare and said: “That’s my first racecourse winner. I’ve had nine or 10 point-to-point winners.

“I train mostly point-to-pointers. I’m delighted for the owner who is an 87-year-old doctor.

“She’s a good mare and it’s easy to train a good one. She showed a lot of promise at home.

“She’ll go hurdling now as she has plenty of ability. She wants better ground.

“I have four of five horses in training.”

Larry Murphy did the steering today on the winning mare who was fitted with a tongue strap. She won a point-to-point at Laurencetown on soft ground by seven lengths 11 days ago.

Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes