'Luckily it paid off' - Dollar Bae delivers winning handicap debut for O'Neills

Thursday: Leicester

Dollar Bae made a mockery of her opening mark of 101 to comfortably take the 1m7½f mares' handicap hurdle under Jonjo O'Neill Jr.

The Jonjo O'Neill-trained five-year-old had some eyecatching form in the book, including a fourth-placed effort to subsequent Listed winner Queens Gamble at Cheltenham in April, and last month when she chased home Champion Bumper sixth Poetic Music at Ludlow.

"She's not overly big and she was carrying 12st 1lb so we were a bit concerned about that," the winning rider told Racing TV after scoring by just over four lengths. "At the same time, there was nothing really higher up in the ratings to go in.

"She ran well in her bumpers and in her two mares' novices, she got a mark after that and it made sense to go and use her mark. It looked like a nice race, a mares' handicap at a nice galloping track and luckily it paid off."

It would have been a double for O'Neill's father had On The Bandwagon not been denied by the Jonathan Burke-ridden Clear On Top in the 2m6½f novice handicap chase for Tom George.

Skeltons strike

Artemis Kimbo and Mount Tempest both got off the mark over hurdles to provide Dan and Harry Skelton with a 43-1 double.

The former finished fourth on her debut in a Chepstow bumper in March and struck when making her first start over hurdles in the 2m4½f maiden, while Mount Tempest built on a solid run at the same South Wales track last month to land the feature 1m7½f novice hurdle.

Results, replays and analysis

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