The Lord Maid gives Halley a red-letter day in Clonmel

Phillip Enright got a breather into The Lord Maid and it reaped a reward as she dominated off the front in the mares' maiden hurdle at Clonmel.

Her four-length lead on the downhill run to the straight was eradicated by both Pallas Athene and Lep Around but Enright was clearly sitting on plenty of horse.

Pallas Athene cracked first and Lep Around came under a drive with over a quarter of a mile to travel.

Enright still hadn't asked the question of The Lord Maid who faced a long run to the final flight with the penultimate obstacle excluded due to testing-ground conditions.

The Lord Maid was merely nudged along to assert before the last which she jumped well. She was far from extended in coming home by eight lengths at 7/1 and she brought up plenty of bets having opened at 11/1.

Lep Around (12/1) came in a remote second and was the same distance in front of Gallimh A Run (3/1).

Trainer Josh Halley said: "She is improving every time she runs and her pedigree suggests the older she gets the better she'll run. I was questioning with all the rain, but Philip said she loved that ground and he gave her a cracking ride.

"She kept going and going the last day, so we changed tactics today and her jumping was brilliant. The more she runs the better she'll get.

"We'll give her a couple of weeks and she likes that ground, so hopefully that ground will come again. She is also very good over fences, but we'll stay hurdling for the time being.

"That's my second winner, I have a few horses which hopefully will show something over the next few days and have 15 or 16 of our own horses."

This was The Lord Maid's third run, but first over hurdles, and she was last seen finishing third at Punchestown in January.

Additional reporting by Tom Weekes