Slige Dala completes hat-trick in Listowel's opener

Dual bumper winner Slige Dala completed a hat-trick of consecutive wins at Listowel today as the Joseph O'Brien trained gelding landed a notable success in the John J.Galvin Maiden Hurdle for his jockey JJ Slevin.

The son of Sholokhov had previously won bumpers at both the Galway summer and Killarney August festivals and today made much of the running to eventually overhaul Coolbane West after jumping the last.

Just a nose separated the pair at the line and afterwards Slevin, a cousin of the winning trainer, stated “that's my first winner at Listowel and I have ridden a winner at all the national hunt tracks now - I've been waiting a while!"

He added “he is a tough horse and it was a good performance on his first run over hurdles to make that much use of him. We got racing early and he plugged at it well.

"He jumped quite well, stays very well and is a big chaser. We were worried about the ground coming here but you'd be very happy with him.

"He is a very good moving horse but having coped with that, you'd be hopeful he could handle winter ground."