Hackett could have a star on his hands in Crackerdancer

One star on a top Sunday card can sometimes be all a small trainer needs to get noticed and Toomevara trainer Ray Hackett might have one that fits that bill in Crackerdancer, as the daughter of Robin Des Champs defied a double penalty to land the Listed Coolmore NH Sires Irish EBF Mares Flat Race.

It was the second time the Patsy O'Brien-owned mare has won at this venue having bolted up by 20 lengths in a winners' contest here in April. This was of a different order however. After a seven-month absence, this mare certainly did it the hard way, making all and racing from a mile out before fighting off the persistent challenge of recent Punchestown winner Cordovan Brown by three-quarters of a length.

"She is wicked tough," said Hackett. "Eoin always felt he was holding the other mare the whole way to the line, she was battling and battling. It's great to be able to come and win a race like that. She was taken on early and it might have helped, it just got the others on the stretch and there wouldn't be many of them as tough as her."