The Visit Kilkenny.ie Apprentice Handicap saw All The Mollies (13/2) gain a third career victory and her first for over three years.

The Intense Focus mare, partnered for the first time by Siobhan Rutledge, hit the front over a furlong out and went a few lengths clear. Stellify (11/2) gave chase inside the final furlong but was a length and a half adrift at the line, with ten lengths back to the 2/1 favourite Giorni Felice in third.

It was a fifth winner of the season for 7lb claimer Rutledge, who works for trainer John McConnell, and her first time to ride a winner for an outside stable.

Ciaran Murphy, assistant to winning trainer Dot Love, said: “She loves that (heavy) ground. It’s been a long time coming but it’s great that she has done it.

“We have to thank the stalls handlers who persisted and persisted (the mare was difficult to load) and it eventually worked.”

Additional reporting by Alan Magee