Lyrical looks a smart prospect

Lyrical Theatre ran out a very easy winner of the bumper at Sligo this evening, the Littlewoods Ireland Mares INH Flat Race, providing her trainer Willie Mullins with a double on the card (earlier won the fourth with Rough Justice .

The five-year-old daughter of King’s Theatre started at 5/6 this morning, opening on-course at 1/2 before going off the clear 4/9 favourite.

Owned by the Hibo Syndicate the successful bay hit the front under two furlong out and she soon stretched clear, staying on strongly in the straight to score easily by twenty lengths. Stay Tuned finished second at 10/1 under Roger Quinlan for Mark McNiff while the Tom Hogan trained Premier Style (16/1), who attempted to make all, was a further half a length back in third.

Winning rider Patrick Mullins said afterwards: “I think she’s very good and was hoping she would do that.

"She is a King’s Theatre and a half-sister to Bright New Dawn. We took a little chance coming here as she wouldn’t have done as much work as most of ours would first time out, and she was still able to do that which is very exciting.

"The owners (Hibo Syndicate) Willie McDonald and Joe Rooney went to my school Clongowes Wood so hence the purple and white colours. They actually won this race last year with Royal Moll."

Additional reporting by Alan Magee