'She seems to be a cut above' - Lossiemouth rounds off fabulous season in style with another Grade 1 for Willie Mullins

Willie Mullins was full of praise for the toughness of Lossiemouth after the diminutive filly followed up her Triumph Hurdle success with a battling triumph in the Ballymore Champion Four Year Old Hurdle under Paul Townend. Victory took the champion trainer's tally to nine of the 12 Grade 1s at the meeting, and he saddled the runner-up in the other three.

This was a particular triumph for the Closutton team as they saddled the first three home. Lossiemouth came a fraction wide off the home bend, which allowed stable companion Zarak The Brave a dream run through on the inner, but he wasn't quite good enough to take advantage and the 1-2 favourite prevailed by a length and a half.

Mullins said: "You think you're buying nice horses all the time but she seems to be a cut above. For a filly to go through the whole season and turn up at every festival – Christmas, getting hammered around at the Dublin Racing Festival, Cheltenham and then back here today – that's incredible for a four-year-old filly."

Lossiemouth leads stablemate Zarak The Brave on her way to victory in the Champion Four Year Old HurdleCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

He added: "She'll need a long break after that. She has been very good to us. I'll be looking forward to the Mares' Hurdle with her next year and, who knows, she could be a Champion Hurdle mare in a couple of years' time. She has huge reserves and is very sound. That's half the battle."

Seddon strikes again

It has been a fine end to a best-ever season for John McConnell and he landed his second big handicap of the week when the teak-tough Seddon made all under Ben Harvey in the €100,000 Fitzwilliam Sports Handicap Hurdle.

Having won the Magners Plate at the Cheltenham Festival, Seddon reverted to hurdles here off a stone lower mark and took full advantage under a perfectly judged ride. Challengers were queueing up from two out but he saw them all off and was going away at the end in beating The Very Man by two and a quarter lengths.

McConnell, who landed a Grade A handicap chase on Tuesday with Hereditary Rule, had one word on his mind. "It's unbelievable," he said. "One of the girls in the syndicate said that it was unbelievable. And I said, it is unbelievable!"

There was logic to this win, though. "It made sense to go for the hurdle off this mark, even though it was a strong race," the trainer added. "Ben gave him a beautiful ride and, as I said at Cheltenham, he just loves galloping. 

"People give out about horse racing, saying it's cruel and all of this rubbish. He should be the poster boy for racing because he just loves doing it. On top of that, he's very good and he's been the horse of a lifetime for these owners."

McConnell is eyeing the transatlantic challenge undertaken successfully by Hewick last year.

"I've been banging on about the American Grand National for him for months now," he said. "Over two miles five furlongs and probably on good ground, why not? He's probably not good enough to win Graded races in this country and the American National is the only race I'm thinking of. It would be some trip and he has already paid for it."

Stone off the mark

It was a never-to-be-forgotten day for Wexford amateur Barry Stone, who had the good fortune to ride his first winner on the track in a Punchestown banks race. Having partnered the Peter Maher-trained Subset to finish third in the Ladies Cup on Tuesday, he triumphed here when the same horse just found enough on the run to the line to hold off the late challenge of stable companion Blast Of Koeman by half a length.

It may have been a first winner on the track for Stone, who rides out for Jonathan Fogarty and other Wexford stables, but he is an experienced point-to-point rider with 25 winners between the flags.

He said: "I got a great spin off him on Tuesday in the Ladies Cup when he was third. I got the call to ride him last Thursday or Friday and I told Peter I would love to ride anything over the banks at Punchestown. The plan was to track the leaders and keep it simple. I got a lovely run through on the inside. Everything else seemed to get dragged out and I was happy where I was. I'd like to thank Peter and all of his team for letting me have the ride."

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