Hayes strikes again as Pempie stays on best

Pempie rsquo;s win at 13/2 in the Irishinjuredjockeys.com Handicap (Div I) saw Chris Hayes complete a quick double and make it four wins from his last six rides.

The Lope De Vega mare, trying 12 furlongs for only the second time in her career, hit the front halfway down the home straight and stayed on well to defeat Empire Street (5/1 jt fav) by a length and a half. The front pair finished clear of the rest with Macaban City (11/2) back in third place.

The winner was bought out of Andrew Balding’s yard a year ago for £10,000 having won a 10f event at Salisbury as a 3-year-old and she had gone close on her Irish debut at Leopardstown in the summer.

Winning trainer Pat Murphy, based in Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny, said: “She’s done that well. She had a wind op after her run in Cork and we gave her a bit of a break.

“I tried her back over a mile as at home she thinks she’s faster than she is. She’s obviously better over further and I’d say she will be okay over the ten and a half up here.

“She’s well bred and there are plenty of winners in the family. She’s entered for the February Sale but maybe I will get a chance to hold onto her a bit longer now.”

Additional reporting by Alan Magee