'Shark' strikes again

Following on from Flying Light's victory in the bumper yesterday afternoon, Mrs Annette Mee saw her colours carried to success again in the opener at Tramore today when Ephorus made all in the David Flynn Construction Novice Handicap Hurdle.

Much like his stable companion, Ardglen the previous day, Ephorus was adding to a success gained at Limerick's Christmas Festival and he also has benefited from the application of cheek-pieces. Tom Doyle deputised for Johnny Cullen on Ephorus and he stayed on well to fend off Celtic Carol by three lengths.

Winning trainer John 'Shark' Hanlon said: "It's great to start off the New Year with a success. We ended last year with a winner as well - Ardglen here yesterday. We had to run him today with his penalty because he's no star. He would have struggled with what the handicapper gave him (8Ibs).

"I'll give Ephorus a bit of a break now and then he'll probably go chasing. Tom said it would have been his fault if he was beaten there as I'd told him to have him third or fourth.

"I want to take this opportunity to thank all my staff for their hard work during the spell of bad weather. They all came in every day and we had no excuses from any of them – they could have thrown in the towel, but they didn't."