Nine year old mare wins on 1,061 days reappearance

Battle Away ended her 1,061 days absence, and spell in the wilderness, when returning to win Killarney's Killarney Plaza Hotel & Spa Handicap Hurdle (div II) today for owner Dan Rohan and trainer Ross O'Sullivan

The nine year old mare's previous run was when unplaced in a Tramore hurdle in August 2019 when trained by owner Rohan but today debuted for trainer O'Sullivan.

Ridden by Jack Foley, Battle Away (14/1) was clear jumping the last and indeed battled well to hold the fast-finishing runner-up Sphagnum (13/8f) by half a length.

O'Sullivan wasn't present and owner Rohan explained “I trained her to win a point to point and ran her in three hurdles. Covid came in so I left her off - there was no reason but Killian (McCarthy, trainer O'Sullivan's brother-in-law) was persuading me for the last 12 months to send her to Ross.

“It all came down to Killian but I must also give Ross 100%.”

He added “Killian and myself were neighbours in Midleton in Cork and he learned how to ride horses with me. My brother-in-law Tom O'Brien bred her and the lads fancied her big-time today.

Battle Away's extraordinary achievement is less than the Willie Mullins trained Braganza, which won on 1,439-days reappearance at Thurles last November, having had a foal.