Cheerful pulls out plenty to open account

Cheap And Cheerful pulled away in the closing stages to land the odds in the Durkin Bros Electrical Maiden Hurdle at Sligo.

The Joseph O'Brien-trained gelding was sent to post an 8/15 shot for the two-mile contest, confined to unplaced horses, after a decent effort to finish fourth at Limerick last weekend.

JJ Slevin, in the JP McManus colours, always had his mount to the fore. He was tackled by Go Complain jumping the second last but had too many guns for that rival, pulling away on the run-in for a six-length success.

“Off a mark of 108 he was always going to be entitled to win that kind of race,” said Slevin.

“He got the job done well enough. He was a little bit lazy and lairy off the last bend when he saw a set of cheekpieces arriving and got a bit wide for a minute.

“He's won snug enough at the death. He's a grand type of horse and he'll hopefully jump a fence one day too.”