Tata has too much class for Killarney rivals

The Gordon Elliott trained Missy Tata followed-up on her impressive win at the Punchestown Festival, as she ran out an easy winner of the Jeremy O'Neill Memorial Mares Hurdle.

Settled behind the leaders early, she improved to lead before the third and had all her rivals off the bridle on the approach to three out.

She increased her advantage after two out, and was eased on the run-in as she came home four and three parts of a length to the good under Jack Kennedy. The Nutcracker ran well to finished second at 20/1 under Mark Flanagan for Tom Gibney, while Legacy Gold was a disappointing third, nine and a half lengths back under Robbie Colgan for Stuart Crawford.

Jack Kennedy said afterwards: "She has been very progressive and while there was a bit of a question mark with the ground, she handled it well and did it easily.

"If she keeps going the right way, she could be a nice one.

"The race in France (Four Year Old Champion Novice Hurdle) could be open to her as she didn't have a hard race there."

Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes