'He was happy out there' - impressive Prairie Dancer leaves rivals in his wake

Monday: Listowel

Galway Hurdle third Prairie Dancer returned to his own age group in the Liam Healy Memorial Lartigue Hurdle and turned the feature Grade B handicap for four-year-olds into a procession.

Topweight and Cheltenham Festival winner Brazil was a notable absentee, but whether he would have been able to cope with Prairie Dancer in this form is questionable.

The Joseph O'Brien-trained gelding made most of the running under JJ Slevin and despite racing a little wide on the track and showing a tendency to jump right, he had a clear advantage turning in and none of his rivals could make any inroads into his lead as he scored by an easy six and a half lengths from Man O Work.

Asked if he was keeping wide for better ground, Slevin said: "He was lugging right and rather than fight and drag him I let him do it. He was happy out there. The forward-going rhythm is important to him and I didn't want to be fighting him.

"He's a hardy horse and once you can get away and get a breather into him, it would take a fair one to get to him. I was conscious of keeping him going once we turned in. I don't know what the plan is with him, I could see him going on until the ground changes."

Lyons comes good

Any aspiring young rider from the North Kerry area would have riding a winner here high on their bucket list and Listowel native Brendan Lyons achieved just that when getting off the mark on Well Funded after a dramatic finish to the Adare Manor Opportunity Handicap Hurdle.

First, the Cian Quirke-ridden Contrapposto came through to throw down a challenge at the second-last, but ran around on the approach to it and gave his rider an unfortunate unseat. The loose horse then ducked across the track and badly hampered favourite Sequoiaspirit. With all this happening, Lyons got a lovely run through on the inside rail on the well-supported favourite to see off the luckless Sequoiaspirit by a neck.

Brendan Rogers after riding his first winner at Listowel on Well FundedCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Fortune was on his side, but Lyons did not really care. "I just kept my head down and kept rowing to the line. To be honest I wasn't even sure if I won," he said.

He added: "I'm just delighted to ride a winner at my home festival. I grew up in the town and I've been coming here since I was a child. It's just amazing to ride a winner here. I'm riding out with [trainer] Eoin McCarthy six mornings a week. He's very good to me and was very good to me, too, when I was a amateur, so hopefully I can get another one."

First for King

Former champion apprentice Connor King rode his first winner over jumps in Ireland when partnering odds-on favourite John Cannon to an easy success in the auction maiden hurdle for trainer Joe Murphy and owner Tadhg O'Sullivan.

King said: "I rode ten winners over jumps in England and came back three years ago, but I didn't ride for a while and only started back a few months ago. I'm based with Joe and it was good to get that opportunity."

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