Ground brings out the best in Shamar The Willie Mullins trained Shamar (5/2 fav) got off the mark over hurdles on the fourth time of asking, as he took the opener at Cork this evening, the corkracecourse.ie Maiden Hurdle. The French import won twice on the level in his native land before he was sold at Arqana Deauville Autumn Mixed Sale in November of 2011 for €125,000. The son of Dr Fong disappointed on his first three outings over hurdles but encountering good ground for the first time since arriving in Ireland, he hit the front before the last and he kept on well on the run-in to score by three and a half lengths. Aonvarr attempted to make all under Ian McCarthy for Bill Lanigan but he found just the winner too good, finishing second at 8/1 while Spot Fine was a further half a length back in third at 4/1 under Barry Geraghty for Mouse Morris. Ruby Walsh partnered the Suzanne Ricci owned gelding to victory and he said afterwards; "The ground is good to firm and it’s nearly firm. He wants good to firm ground and that's what he got." Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes
