Magical Zoe and Adrian Heskin win the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Pat Walsh Memorial Mares Hurdle Listed Healy Racing © Photo Healy Racing
Magical Zoe made a winning reappearance when proving too strong for a sextet of opponents in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Pat Walsh Memorial Mares Hurdle(Listed) at Gowran Park.
The Henry De Bromhead trained five-year-old, also hit the ground running 12 months ago, winning her first two starts for the stable, before finishing an honourable second at the Cheltenham festival. The daughter of Shantou ended her season with a fifth placing in a Fairyhouse Grade 1.
Strongly supported to make her class tell in this contest, the Adrian Heskin partnered mare was always travelling well in mid division before moving closer after three out. Say Goodbye headed long time leader Hidden Land at that flight but Magical Zoe was soon in her slipstream, taking over at two out.
As lack of a previous outing began to tell, Heskin had to get a bit more serious with the odds-on favourite after jumping the last but she was always doing enough, eventually running out a four-and-a-quarter length winner.
Henry de Bromhead said: “It looked like she got a bit tired. Adrian said she took a little blow after she hit the front and hopefully she will improve.
“We want to try and go two and a half again and see. There is a mares race in Punchestown on the Morgiana weekend that we may aim towards and see how we get on.
“We need to see with regards to the spring that we do stay or not.
“Another option is she could go to Down Royal and run over two miles against the geldings and we could then go for the two and a half miles mares race at Leopardstown over Christmas.
“I’m delighted and it’s a great start.”
Additional reporting by Alan Magee.
