Fun Fun Fun and Patrick Mullins © Photo Healy Racing
Fun Fun Fun provided Willie Mullins with a fourth winner on the afternoon at Thurles when making all for a facile victory in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares Maiden Hurdle.
The daughter of Martaline, who won two bumpers last season including a Grade 2 at the Dublin Racing Festival, raced quite keenly but never came off the bridle in justifying odds of 30/100.
She cruised clear after the last under Patrick Mullins, who is also the winning breeder, to beat Sansrisk by an easy seven and a half lengths.
There was a further 16 lengths back to Jekiki in third.
Patrick Mullins said, "She jumped brilliantly and her pedigree is all three-mile chasers. The way she jumped she can stay at two miles, and she’s keen, so likes to get on with things.
"We might come back here for a mares’ novice hurdle at the end of the month but that might be too soon. Hopefully we’ll be going for black-type after today.
“She was definitely better than she was at settling - when I rode her in Punchestown, it was like her tail was on fire, but maybe that was the end of a long season. I think the hurdles will help, and I think she could jump a fence in time if the owners want to."
Wearing his winning breeder hat, Mullins added: "I lost a Doctor Dino brother during the year but have a Doctor Dino sister and a Jukebox Jury sister. We bought the mare privately because she was a sister to Yorkhill who, at the time, we thought was going to win the Champion Hurdle, the Gold Cup and the Ryanair, and I think he only won one race after we bought her. We bought her in-foal to Martaline and that was a gift.”
Quotes by Tom Weekes
