DANNY Mullins was busy making the Tramore August Festival his own last week and he followed up a double on the opening evening with another brace which began in a fairly dramatic EY Chase which was won by John Ryan’s Ferdia.

The 4/1 outsider of the four-runner field had emerged to hold a fractional lead at the second last fence when the front-running Bacardys crashed out and Tullybeg, who was lying in a close third at the time, parted company with his rider.

All this left Ferdia to enjoy a straightforward two-and-a-half-length victory over the favourite Popong.

“I’d say he would have won anyway, Danny said he was still fairly happy. You’d never know but he came there travelling best,” said Ryan who trains the winner for the Bitview Partnership. “I thought he was a two-miler but we’ve stepped him up to two five and it’s worked. He’s a horse that likes good ground.”

Fantastic Molly

Danny Mullins successfully joined forces with his father, Tony, for the second night in a row when Molly Fantasy, who was backed from as big as 20/1 earlier in the day into 9/4, bolted up in the Tom Murphy Mercedes Mares Handicap Hurdle over two miles.

This former German flat winner was returning from 13 months off here and won as she pleased in the colours of Shantou Limited. She cruised to the front before the last before an easy three-and-a-half-length triumph over the favourite, Natural Look.

“She was coming right last year and the next thing she got injured. We had to leave her off then and wait the whole year. She was working brilliantly at home so I felt that she would take a lot of beating,” remarked Tony Mullins. “She will go for something like that again if she doesn’t get too much of a penalty. She is capable of doing it off a nice mark but I don’t want to see her going too high.”

WILLIE and Patrick Mullins also ended the evening with two winners and their first success came courtesy of the French import Historique Reconce in the MM Halley Solicitors Mares Maiden Hurdle over two miles, five furlongs.

This race, which was confined to horses that had never been placed, looked a perfect fit for this Lauro half-sister to Chacun Pour Soi who finished out of the frame on her five starts in France.

The Jackie Mullins-owned mare cruised to the front before the final flight and was hard held in beating Beachroad Winnie by just under three lengths.

There was a further neck back to the intriguing Paul Tobin inmate Twoplustwo Equals who was returned the 5/4 favourite having been as big as 80/1 when betting on the race opened. The last-named had started at no shorter than 200/1 on her three previous outings.

“She jumped brilliantly. They said she was just too weak in France last year and in France there is not much of a programme for the older horses so we took a punt with her pedigree that she would make a nice broodmare. It was a great opportunity and that’s what I thought she might do,” commented Mullins.

Space jets in

Mullins senior and junior also picked up the Bluegrass Horse Feeds-sponsored bumper with Space Tourist who was making her debut for the yard having previously been with Johnny Fogarty.

On her first outing since defying huge odds to run third in a Navan maiden hurdle in March, the five-year-old daughter of Jet Away was sent off the 1/2 favourite.

The Yorkshire Rose Syndicate-owned winner struck for home inside the last half mile and kept on well to score by two and three-quarter lengths from Up For Appeal who has shaped with promise on both his racecourse outings this summer.

“The syndicate spoke to Patrick about getting a horse. They hadn’t got the biggest budget in the world but Patrick found two or three and they went for this one,” stated the trainer. “The syndicate flew in this morning and got the train down. There was fire on the train line outside Bagenalstown and they got delayed so it’s been trains, flames and automobiles for them.”

A FALL from Bacardys in the opener meant that an injured Kieran Callaghan missed the ride on Doyenna (6/1) in the Brian Griffin Memorial Maiden Hurdle and the winning spare on Lorna Fowler’s charge fell to Kieran Buckley.

So Scottish was returned a very well backed 5/6 favourite here and he led from before two out but he wasn’t all that fluent at the final flight and on the run-in he was picked off by the Valerie and Diana Cooper-owned granddaughter of Opera Hat.

The victorious five-year-old only began her career in April and had shown promise to finish no worse than fourth on her three previous outings.

Flying Dove

For the second evening in succession Henry de Bromhead and Rachael Blackmore got among the winners as Some Dove (7/1) secured the 80-109 rated Assembly Tech Handicap Hurdle over two miles, five furlongs. The Daf Jones-owned daughter of Walk In The Park made most of the running and held off the challenge of Anyonecanhaveitall by three-quarters of a length.

June wins

Sean Flanagan maintained his good run as he won the 0-95 rated Hanntec Handicap Chase on the Liam Casey-trained and bred Rule Of June.

The dual point-to-point winner was sent off at 4/1 to take advantage of an opening rating of 83 over fences and she did so by overhauling the game veteran Rudy Catrail before the last. At the line Rule Of June had two lengths to spare.

The winner is owned by the trainer’s father Donal and she was due to turn out again at Killarney last night.