O’Sullivan doubles up as The Cobblers Wife narrowly prevails at Tramore
Alan O’Sullivan completed a double on the Tramore card when The Cobblers Wife edged out Princess Felicia to take the Bluegrass Horse Feeds Handicap Hurdle.
The eight-year-old mare, owned by Mick Byrne, was making her first start in the colours of trainer Tony Mullins. She battled on from the final obstacle to deny the Harry Kelly-trained Princess Felicia by a neck, with both first and second returned at 9/2. Co-favourite Maxicourt, also supported in the market, finished fifth.
Conditional championship update
The victory provided O’Sullivan with his second winner of the evening and moved him level at the head of the conditional jockeys’ championship on 12 winners, alongside Eoghan Finnegan and Josh Williamson.
Trainer perspective
Mullins, who has had the mare in his care for only around seven to eight weeks, reported that The Cobblers Wife has been straightforward to handle and showed an affinity for the good ground at Tramore. He said the filly had run well on her penultimate start for her previous trainer and is currently well treated on the handicap.
Given the performance, Mullins indicated that the plan would be to look for a similar contest if the mare can progress a little and continue to build on this run. He also noted that neither he nor the owner had been heavily involved with backing the filly ahead of the race despite the betting support she received.
What the result means
- The Cobblers Wife produced a game finish to land a competitive handicap hurdle at Tramore, adding a useful success to her record.
- O’Sullivan’s late double underlined his productive spell in conditional events and tightened the race for the leading conditional prize.
- Trainer Tony Mullins will likely target similar handicap hurdles as he seeks to exploit the mare’s current mark and preference for quicker ground.
The contest will be noted by connections and punters alike as Mullins evaluates whether the mare can step forward from this mark. For festival and meeting planners, results such as these often influence entries and handicapping decisions for the coming weeks as trainers seek suitable targets for late-summer and autumn handicap hurdles.
No further declarations were made regarding the immediate campaign of The Cobblers Wife beyond an intention to aim for comparable races should she continue to improve.
