Mistergif impresses on debut for Mullins

Mistergif impressively justified odds-on favouritism as he slammed his rivals in the Follow Limerick Racecourse On Twitter Maiden Hurdle.

Without a win in eleven starts in his native France and subsequently bought by Willie Mullins for E190,000, the five-year-old was returned an 8/13 chance.

Sent straight to the front by Kieran Callaghan, the Zarak bay made all and jumped with fluency throughout.

Briefly pressed by Ballycallan King approaching two out, he readily brushed aside that rival and came home 18-lengths to the good in the double green colours of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede.

The aforementioned Ballycallan King (9/1) filled the runner-up spot and was all of 19-lengths clear of Wholelotofbusiness (40/1) in third.

Mullins, who was registering his 40th winner of the month, also saddled Surf Club (14/1) and Milo Lises (2/1) in this 14-runner affair and they finished fifth and tenth respectively.

"It was very straightforward. He had experience around Auteuil and loads of runs on the Flat as well as a younger horse," Callaghan explained.

"I was just worried that he was doing a bit too much early, but he was very good the way he picked up from the back of the second last.

"He hit the line hard and I was at the first hurdle down the back pulling him up so it's definitely a good sign on that ground.

"He couldn't have done it much easier, and he has a chance of being a nice horse."

STEWARDS REPORTS

The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board Veterinary Officer examined Milo Lises (FR), trained by W.P. Mullins, at the request of the Raceday Stewards and reported the animal to be post race normal.

At the request of the Raceday Stewards, R.P. Treacy, rider of On Your Way trained by C.Byrnes, reported to the Stewards' Secretaries that his mount was a difficult ride throughout, ran very green, tried to run off the track a few times and stayed on past tired horses in the closing stages.

Additional reporting by Alan Magee