First winner in Ireland for Westhaven

The Noel Meade trained Westhaven gave away weight to his rivals when comfortably winning the Coola Maiden Hurdle at Kilbeggan this evening, under in form jockey Davy Condon.

Westhaven's previous success (for other connections) came in the Peter Andre Handicap at Kempton in June 2011 and Meade later expressed his delight for winning owner Jimmy Kernohan, from Ballymena, saying “I'm really delighted for Jimmy as he's is a lovely man who has been with me for years but hasn't always had the best of luck.”

He added “this horse has promised to win for a while and is a real fast ground type. He will go for a handicap hurdle next and we'll take it from there but he also jumps fences.”

By Thomas Weekes, quotes from Alan Magee