Pat Smullen's bid to retain his Jockeys' Championship has begun well, making Ma Ani s win in the Mullen's Traditional Fast Food Fillies Maiden, at Dundalk tonight, his second winner of the new season.

Smullen raced the daughter of El Prado prominently, eventually getting to the front inside the final furlong for a comfortable length and a half success.

Winning trainer Dermot Weld was absent but Smullen did report "Ma Ani showed a little bit of temperament in the parade ring beforehand but did it well on the track and didn't have a hard race to win. She is a decent filly and it rode like a good race."