Stormy Ireland back with a bang

Willie Mullins worked the oracle with Stormy Ireland who bounced back to winning form in the Grade 2 hurdle at Fairyhouse.

This mare won six races for Mullins including a pair of Grade 3s before switching to Paul Nicholls in Britain. She finished runner-up in three of her four races across the water (including in two chases) but resumed winning ways on her return to Ireland.

Danny Mullins, filling in for Paul Townend, sent her into the lead from flagfall. The seven-year-old was a bit sticky over the first couple of obstacles but soon got into her rhythm and had her rivals on the stretch in the home straight.

Flrench Dynamite was the danger at the second last at which Stormy Ireland made a slight mistake. However, Stormy Ireland stuck to her task on the run-in to score by a reduced margin of a length and a quarter at 7/2. French Dynamite the 85/40 favourite, had to settle for the runner-up berth.

Jockey Mullins said: "It worked out well. It is the beast that is underneath you that does most of the work. This mare she is brilliant.

"To see her come home to Willie's I was delighted. She has shown good spark. You never know if they are going to show it on the track again but that was a fair performance.

"As fillies go she was a little bit temperamental at home and Willie decided today he wanted to take all the (head)gear off her. That's Willie Mullins, a genuis move! Lucky enough I was in the plate."

Willie Mullins added: “She's getting her style of racing back and I think Danny suited her great.

“She was bought to breed from. Her owners said we'd discuss after a run or two whether we'd breed from her this year and I think we'll probably keep her to race and breed next year.

“We will probably go back over fences with her, just wait for the new season to come. I'd imagine she has a career over fences, she'll get plenty of practice anyway.

“We were very happy when we got her back, she was in good shape. The first stage of the process has started.

“I have a look at the mares' hurdle at Punchestown. I'll have a look at the conditions and see how she comes out of this race.”

On jockey Townend, he said: “He's going to have another visit with his doctor during the week. We'll take it bit by bit and see how he goes before we make any further decisions. That's where we are.”

Additional reporting by Gary Carson