Humm Baby brings up Townend treble Paul Townend continued his fine run of form at Listowel this afternoon when completing a treble on Humm Baby in the Low Low Irish EBF Mares Handicap Hurdle. The Michael Hourigan-trained daughter of Mahler was available at 8/1 this morning and further supported on track from 6/1 into 5/1 favourite. She took a narrow lead over Cerealice at the penultimate flight and a good leap at the last proved crucial as Demi Plie finished strongly. Townend’s mount had a length and a quarter to spare over Demi Plie at the line. Cerealice was half a length further adrift in third, with Robin On The Hill completing the places in fourth. Hourigan said, "Horses for courses. She has been a bit unlucky through the summer and there were days when she should have won but she's not the easiest horse in the world to ride and isn't a young fella's ride. "Paul gave her a good ride and said he rode three different races. He said he thought there'd be loads of pace but there wasn't and was then in a pocket. When he got out things were better and it's great to train a winner in Listowel. "She'll have a little break now. She's small and light and isn't one you'd pull out quickly and she could run next at Limerick's Munster National meeting. "I'll have three more runners for the week. It's the way things are but we're still plugging away at it." (TW & AM)
