Smadynium made a winning debut for trainer Shark Hanlon at Fairyhouse today, winning the Today FM Ladies Handicap Chase under jockey Rachel Blackmore.

The son of Smadoun was a dual Selling Hurdle winner for British trainer Julia Brooke at Hexham this year, including when last seen in action last September. Today he made the perfect start for Hanlon, racing prominently and shaking off only real threat Capture The Drama in the home straight when scoring a 12 lengths win.

Hanlon later stated “he’s owned by five lads on the Roscommon football team. They only bought him for small money at Doncaster a fortnight ago, and they (the Chancers Syndicate) also have Summer Storm.

“The girl on board (Blackmore) made all the difference - he was making mistakes in England but didn’t make any mistake today. It’s very important to have a jockey like her in the yard.”

By Tom Weekes, quotes from Alan Magee