Shirley eventually makes the breakthrough In first time cheek-pieces Shirley Casper was hammered from 5/2 this morning into 6/4 for the Billy Brophy Memorial Beginners Steeplechase at Naas and the ten-year-old daughter of Presenting comfortably landed the wagers under Paddy Flood. The Seamus Dunne-owned mare jumped well in the main from the front and up the straight she had her pursuers on the stretch. On the run-in she kept going well to comfortably see off Like Your Style and Kilflora by three and a half lengths and a length and a quarter. Successful trainer Dessie Hughes said: "It's overdue. Good ground is the key to her and there's plenty of novices left for her. Once the ground dries up she'll improve a lot. "The plan was to make it here. She's a two and a half mile mare really and she doesn't quicken that much but she goes a good pace and keeps it up."
