R'evelyn Pleasure and Donagh Meyler are clear over the last© Photo Healy Racing
R’evelyn Pleasure provided Kilworth trainer Sean O’Brien with a welcome change of fortune when taking the Ardfinnan Maiden Hurdle in ultimately clearcut fashion at Clonmel.
O’Brien has had many good horses through his hands but has been quiet in recent times and was bridging a two-year gap without a winner under rules.
The two and a quarter mile event looked a competitive affair until the front-running Reach Up fell at the penultimate flight and hampered the 11/8 favourite Steer Clear while More Information also fell independently.
All this drama left 7/4 chance R’evelyn Pleasure with a clear advantage, and Donagh Meyler’s mount stayed on really strongly to score by 21 lengths.
The favourite could find no extra in second, while Sweetlight d’Oroux was a further 27 lengths back in third.
O’Brien said, "He is a lovely, homebred horse and he's the first horse I have for Mark McDonagh so it's wonderful. He bought into him a good while ago and things just didn't work out for him in bumpers. He then ran over hurdles at Navan and pulled muscles and took a long time to come back.
"He loves jumping hurdles but wants better ground and is a really nice actioned horse. He could go for a two-mile handicap hurdle next as he has a high cruising speed.
"Mark was anxious to get into the family as I had the grandmother Be My Pleasure a few years ago and she was a very good bumper mare. It's great to train a winner for him as he's a great man to train for and just lets me alone and is very good.
"I'm very quiet with runners at the moment and have hardly nothing to run and have only four in training. One like this makes the good days good though."
(TW & AM)
