Early scare for Fiveaftermidnight

Fiveaftermidnight overcame an unpromising position in-running to win Ballinrobe's BoyleSports (Mares) Handicap Hurdle today, scoring for trainer Philip Rothwell and jockey Simon Torrens.

The nine year old mare was all at sea in rear during the first mile of the race, matching at 350 in-running, but made her way to eventually lead approaching the last, beating runner-up Must Be Obeyed by four and a half lengths.

Afterwards Rothwell said “on the road I was touch and go whether I was going to keep coming as she needed rain but luckily they had a few showers before racing. Simon said there was just about enough juice in the ground for her.

"She was flat out for the first circuit and she wouldn’t want it any quicker. They went plenty fast enough in front and she stays really well.”

The trainer, who sent out eight winners at the Co Mayo venue in 2021, added "I’m delighted to get another win out of her for (owner) John Leckey. It’s great to be back racing at Ballinrobe because we had a lot of success here last year."

Quotes from Mark Nunan