Sibenek scores for Harrington

Jessica Harrington's 2/7 favourite Sibenek made heavy weather in winning the 2009 Navan Membership Maiden Hurdle (division 2) at Navan today, making it two winning odds-on chances in the first two races.

The son of Oscar needed strong riding from Mark Bolger in the straight to eventually shake off the challenge of Majestic Oak by four and a half lengths.

Harrington was absent but was represented by her assistant Eamonn Leigh who explained "two miles in probably inadequate for Sibenek but with the ground being so heavy we decided to take our chance - when he met the rising ground on the run-in he stayed on well."

He added "he'll probably be stepped up in distance now and hopefully his jumping can improve too."