Lighthouse Rose shines for McNiff Lighthouse Rose continued Mark McNiff's good form with a clear-cut victory in the mares' handicap hurdle at Downpatrick. The five-year-old dictated throughout and moved clear after two out. She then ran away with the race by 13 lengths at 11/2. Dmie A Dozen, the 11/8 favourite, could make no impression in second. Mark McNiff said: "If she had jumped the second last the last day she would have won and she jumped neither (it nor the last) - if she had jumped either she would have won (when third at this track in July). "She is locally owned, it's a builder's but no-one is able to be here. She could come north again. “She’s only a small mare and had no weight today. I’ll maybe run her over three miles at Sligo on Wednesday week.” And on his red-hot form, he said: "It's good, it is going great. We had a couple of seasons similar three and four years back and the last two years were a bit quieter. "Horses that win one year don't do well the next year. We had a lot of younger ones that take a while to come through."
