Teacher's Pet likes Downpatrick Teacher's Pet (4/1) really put it to her rivals from before the second last in the Talk To Us About Sponsorship Handicap Hurdle, and that approach took Luke Dempsey's mount all the way to victory in the fourth event at Downpatrick. Already a course winner, the Oscar mare, trained by Dempsey's father, Philip, needed the line in the closing stages but she did enough to hold on by a length, and three parts of a length, from Tb Broke Her (7/2 favourite) and Coldstonesober. "She likes this track and she's not a bad mare. She was a bit free early on, she was probably too keen to do too much early, but in fairness she's tough. She still had plenty in the tank," reported the winning rider on the J P McManus-owned victor, bred by his wife Noreen. "She'll be a nice filly over fences next year. That's the plan for next year, she has schooled." The winning prize was presented by former Gold Cup winning amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen who was a visitor to the track today. He made the journey in his capacity as CEO of Portman Dentalcare who have 44 dental clinics in the UK and six in Northern Ireland. (MG & EM)
