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Michael Graham

Michael Graham

Mullins doubles up on Martello Tower

Mon 29th Dec 2014, 15:28

Martello Tower, leftMartello Tower, left
© Photo Healy Racing

Martello Tower rallied to win the Grade 3 novice hurdle and give jockey Danny Mullins a double at Limerick. Measureofmydreams led, but was headed by Martello Tower before the second last. As Measureofmydreams weakened out of contention, the 8/11 favourite Outlander loomed large.

Outlander grabbed a narrow initiative coming to the last and still held it on the run-in, however, Martello Tower on his inside rallied late on and got up by a neck at 5/2.

Owner Barry Connell said: "A three-runner race, but a quality race. We had to give 6lbs to the other two horses for a Grade 3 win.

"He has great heart and battled back well. Hopefully it is onwards and upwards. He'€™s never going to be a horse that will win by more than a small margin."

€Danny Mullins said: "He was very tough. My mother did a great job after his fall the last day. It was a heavy fall and we feared the worst when it happened.

"I think there will be plenty more big days in this fellow. He'€™s not quite a Faugheen who won it last year. He'€™ll need to step up to go to Cheltenham, but in fairness he has been stepping up so far."

Martello Tower, trained by Mags Mullins, was priced at 20/1 on first show by Paddy Power for the Albert Bartlett Novice Hurdle.

Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes

About Michael Graham
Michael has worked in horse racing journalism for more than 15 years, having also written a weekly betting column on Gaelic football and hurling for a newspaper. He is involved in writing the My Racing Story features on this website. He spent a year in South Africa completing a Diploma in Business Administration and also studied Newspaper Journalism in Belfast. He enjoys playing 5-a-side football on a regular basis.