It is easy to see where Colm Murphy is coming from when he says Bouillabaisse is "a real nice mare," as the daughter of Beat Hollow had just scored on her initial effort for him and owner Barry Connell in the Irish Field (Q.R.) Flat Race at the Curragh.

A second winner at flat H.Q. for Murphy, the Wexford handler explained: "She's had a lot of little setbacks since she was bought last year.

"She has a proper pedigree and she'll go jumping now. We'll kick on at this stage as we've been waiting for this nice ground."

Well things in this two miler could hardly have gone better for Bouillabaisse's rider, Colin Motherway.

He tracked the leaders on the 8/1 shot (from 10s), formerly under the care of Eugene McDermott and Catriona Muldoon.

Up the straight the six-year-old was still cantering and she was the last to come off the bridle as Motherway sent her in pursuit of The Mighty Milan inside the last.

She quickened up like a high-class mare to nab that fellow by three parts of a length with a length and a quarter back to the 11/8 favourite Pique Sous

Murphy knows exactly what is required to handle a top-flight mare as he has shown with Voler La Vedette and Feathard Lady and with a bit of luck Bouillabaisse will now chart a course towards the upper echelons of racing mares herself.

A better informed colleague informs this scribe that Bouillabaisse is a traditional Provencal fish stew originating from the port city of Marseille. (TW & EM)