Landmark win for Hughes

It's fair to say that Sheikh Mohammed didn't have Laytown's unique challenge in mind when he planned the breeding of Polenka, but the mare did give her trainer, Pat Hughes, a landmark moment on the strand yesterday.

Polenka's three-parts of a length defeat of Fraser Carey in the Guinness Amateur Handicap meant the Co Carlow trainer has now had a winner at every track in the country.

"This was the only racecourse I'd not had a winner at, including some of those that aren't around anymore," Hughes said, after explaining how he had given Polenka, who is in foal to Mukaddamah, a taste of the beach in the morning.

Racing opened with the punters getting it dead right in the sixfurlong handicap. Ballymote was backed from 5 to 1 to 11 to 4 favourite and made most to beat off Sea Leopard by a neck to give jockey Fran Berry his first Laytown winner.

Caroline Barker took the seven furlong maiden with Millie's Lily, one of only four horses she trains. The ex-Kevin Prendergast-trained filly was an easy four-length scorer under Eddie Ahern, who was riding his sixth Laytown winner in just three years.

Prendergast himself got on the score-sheet when Iftatah secured a run up the inner to beat Leixlip Belle a length. The winning jockey Stephen Craine had his first success on the beach in 1976 with Carlow Rose.

In contrast, Jason Behan and Brian Crowley were tasting sandy success for the first time when Abstract View and Times O'War scored respectively. The latter was also a first flat winner for local trainer Liam McAteer who took out a full licence, after some success as a permit holder, in February.