Cullen aiming high with Lispendense

Lispendense was the facile winner of the Ballinrobe bumper with Patrick Mullins in the saddle.

The 8/11 favourite moved ominously well into contention in the final three furlongs and eased to the front with over a quarter of a mile to travel.

Mullins kept him wide in the straight and the pair were clear by the final furlong. They won as they pleased by 14 lengths from Shumard (33/1). Yes Des Taillons was another five and a half lengths adrift in third at 10/1.

Trainer Denis Cullen said: "I'm delighted with that. He is a horse I've always thought an awful lot of but things just didn't fall right for him. I fancied him going to Leopardstown even though it was a winners' bumper. Johnny Barry gave him a super ride there to finish third behind two smart horses.

"We came back here then thinking we would pick up a handy bumper but it was an above average bumper on soft ground, and over two mile two nothing really got into it from the back. He ran a good race again but it just didn't happen for him.

"In Punchestown he just ran into a bit of trouble. Derek O'Connor rode him around the inside and when the field tightened in on him he just panicked a little bit. He has just needed to mature and grow up. There is a lot of improvement still to come from this horse and we think he is very, very decent. He has a great turn of foot and has a high cruising speed. Who knows where he could go?

"I was saying to the boys beforehand that if he won today we could go back and try to win a maiden over a mile and a half on the flat.

"He has a bit of age on his side and when he goes into novice company he will have that advantage over four and five-year-olds. When Captain Cee Bee won the Supreme Novices he was a seven-year-old and it will take a fair four or five-year-old to beat him when he goes jumping hurdles. He could be a proper novice for later on this year."

Additional reporting by Donal Murphy