Smooth sailing for O'Hanlon on Weddell Sea

The 4/6 favourite Weddell Sea made virtually all the running in the hands of Paddy O'Hanlon to win the four-year-old maiden hurdle.

The Sea The Stars gelding, bred by the Niarchos family and runner-up three times on the level for Andre Fabre, stretched clear from the second-last flight of hurdles to account for Edge Of My Seat by eight lengths with Betty Dutton another two and a quarter lengths back in third.

Fitted with cheekpieces for the first time here, Weddell Sea had previously finished runner-up in a maiden at Limerick and was getting off the mark on his third start over hurdles.

Winning trainer Andrew McNamara said: "Gordon's horse (Wrecking Ball Paul, prominent when his saddle slipped early and quickly pulled up) running off the track made life a bit easier. He wouldn't be a natural front-runner though and he was having a look around in front.

“He jumped nicely and put in a nice enough show so we'll head on to Galway, probably for the winners' four-year-old race. The timeline for that race is lovely.

“I'd say there is probably a bit of improvement in him as he had a bit of time off and is having a good blow there.”

Quotes from Gary Carson