Gudnis Gracious Me from the John O’Shea stable opened up her account over hurdles when landing the opening race, the Dunvale Fabrications Ltd Maiden Hurdle in the hands of Sean McDermott.

Winning trainer O’Shea said afterwards, “I didn’t think she was good enough to win today as there looked to be a few good horses in the race. I thought the track would suit her. We have her in a flat race on Monday in Ballinrobe so we’ll probably go there next.”

This race was won by the Noel Meade trained Go Native last year who then went on to win at the Cheltenham Festival this year.