Kilbarry Beauty & Paul Townend (left) beat Urano & Ruby Walsh© Photo Healy Racing
Paul Townend completed an opening race double as he took the Killarney Towers Hotel Maiden Hurdle under the John Kiely trained Kilbarry Beauty
The daughter of Saffron Walden won a bumper on her second start at Cork in April of last year but failed to follow up in four subsequent bumper efforts.
Making her hurdling debut this afternoon she was sent off at 8/1 and raced in third for most of the contest.
She quickened up well under pressure away from the last, hitting the front close home, going on to beat the 1/3 favourite Urano by three parts of a length.
The Willie Mullins trained, Ruby Walsh ridden runner-up was finishing in that position for the fourth time in-a-row while the front running Michael Hourigan trained Tropical Three was a further two and a quarter lengths back in third under Adrian Heskin at 7/2.
John Kiely said afterwards: "She has always been consistent and she handles the ground nicely. She beat a nice hurdler with more experience (Urano)."
Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes
