He could have looked silly but in his own words "it was much easier to do it on a 7/1 shot not a 4/6 shot," as Patrick Mullins' gamble to take a very wide route on Honeys Joy paid off brilliantly in the finale at Thurles, the Holycross Mares INH Flat Race.

Bringing up a double for his father Willie, after Roi Des Francs win in race four, Honeys Joy was weak in the betting at 8/1, coming back off a 240 day break.

The daughter of Kayf Tara had twice not come up to the mark, in the spring and summer, but here she was operating on a different level to her rivals, and indeed a different surface, on the outside, as she eased away in the closing stages for an eight length victory over the well-backed Kala Brandy (8s this morning into 7/2 joint favourite). Westcountysbrigid came in from around 14s this morning, to share favouritism with Kala Brandy, but she had to settle for fifth place.

"I had a jog around earlier and that's where the best of the ground was. We decided to take a chance because she'd run bad twice and we didn't know why as she works well at home. It paid off," reflected Patrick.

"Emmet (cousin) deserves a lot of credit. The C C R (winning syndicate) was his school in Roscrea and he's done most of the work with her.

"He deserves all the credit really. He's turned her inside out since her last two runs."

Meanwhile Mullins senior said: "Patrick took a chance going wide today and it paid off spectacularly. We were worried about the ground and she would have got lost on the inside. I'd say she'll go jumping now."

The CCR Racing Syndicate (Roscrea College) has been in operation for 25 years. (AM & EM)