Aime Desjy & Patrick Mullins (far right) lead their rivals into the straight© Photo Healy Racing
Willie & Patrick Mullins combined for their fourth bumper success in less than a week, as Aime Desjy easily accounted for his rivals in the last at Ballinrobe, the Lodge At Ashford Castle INH Flat Race.
Fourth of fourteen in a Listed hurdle on his only previous start in France back in September of 2019, the son of No Risk At All was expected to deliver this evening, going off the clear 4/6 favourite.
Never far off the pace, the seven-year-old was third with a circuit to go and was pushed along to lead with just under two furlongs left to race.
He was soon driven clear and kept on strongly, coming home seven lengths to the good for the Roaringwater Syndicate (who also struck with Pink In The Park at Punchestown yesterday).
The well-backed Mister Beeton (33s early, returned 17/2) ran on strongly from well off the pace to take second under Michael O'Sullivan for Shane Nolan, while Maidenstreetprince (13/2) was another three lengths back in third.
"He always had a lot of ability and he had a good run in Auteuil. Unfortunately in each of the last two seasons he got a setback, nothing too serious but it just took him out for the season," the winning rider revealed.
"He's a real chasing type who'll go further and handle softer ground. Hopefully we'll keep him in one piece and he's one for the future.
"I'd imagine we might go jumping with him before long and we'll look for somewhere with plenty of juice in the ground. We won't run him on ground that's too quick. They did a beautiful job with the ground here and deserve plenty of credit for that."
Additional reporting by Mark Nunan
