Arkwrisht clears the last under Ruby Walsh© Photo Healy Racing
< Arkwrisht benefitted from an enterprising Ruby Walsh ride to continue Willie Mullins' domination of the Surehaul Mercedes-Benz Novice Hurdle at Clonmel.
Having initially anchored his mount towards the rear, Walsh made a fast-forward move to take up the running four out.
Arkwrisht (12-1) was far from foot-perfect but made it from A to B in one piece and showed excellent stamina to beat Westend Star by two and a half lengths, giving Mullins his fifth win in the Grade Three in the last six years.
The rest of the day belonged to Bryan Cooper, who initiated a treble on Mullins' Fire In Soul in the Surehaul Race Day Maiden Hurdle.
The five-year-old cost 200,000 euros back in 2014 but hadn't tasted competitive action prior to this and, for a Mullins inmate, was allowed to go off at relatively generous odds of 9-2.
However, he travelled like a high-quality prospect and after taking the lead off Kashmiri Sunset shortly after jumping two out, quickened smartly to score by seven lengths from Thumb Stone Blues
Everything Billy's Hope had shown prior to the Kilsheelan Mares Maiden Hurdle entitled her to go off the 4-9 favourite, but she couldn't quite reel in Cooper on the Gordon Elliott-trained Water Sprite (7-2), going down by a length and a half.
Cooper's three-timer was completed when Elliott's 1-2 favourite Bright New Dawn outclassed two rivals in the Micro Dog ID Chase.
Ending a drought that stretched back almost two years, the nine-year-old cruised up to take the lead off Rubi Light two out and stretched a length and three-quarters clear without breaking too much of a sweat.< Cerca Trova capitalised on the fall of Fade In two out and a mistake from Annie Alainn at the same obstacle to land the Minorstown Handicap Hurdle as the 4-1 favourite, while Phillip Enright was unlucky on Fade In but gained some compensation when taking the Derrygrath Novice Handicap Chase on Vicangelome (9-4).
