Marajman lands the odds on Irish debut Marajman justified strong support on his first outing for current connections when taking the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden Hurdle at Clonmel. The French import has been absent for over two years since his only previous outing over hurdles at Pau but overnight quotes of 6/4 were soon snapped up and he went off the 8/13 favourite. Paul Townend’s mount tracked the pace in this 2m3f event and had his only anxious moment when a bit tight for room on the inner at the penultimate flight. However, the Willie Mullins-trained gelding soon asserted and kept on well on the run-in to score by six lengths. Axiomatic kept on one paced to deny the front-running Eye Van the runner-up spot. Mullins said, "Being a relation of Golden Silver it is no surprise he handled that ground and he is a horse who will improve. "It is very very testing conditions but he jumped very well and jumping won it for him in the end I'd say. He is a staying type and it is nice to get him going." However, the champion trainer discounted any thoughts of a trip to the Cheltenham Festival saying, "He might have had fancy entries but won't be going across." (TW & AM)
