Champagne Fever made a very impressive fencing debut in the Connexus Communications Beginners Chase at Punchestown.

Former champion Pat Smullen was seen at his brilliant and determined best when getting odds-on favourite Ceol Rua home a narrow winner of the Ladies Day At Ballinrobe Maiden in Ballinrobe last night.

On a night when trainer Tony Mullins and his jockey-son Danny shared a 98/1 double, it was the Willie Mullins-trained mare Glens Melody which proved the equine star in Sligo, landing the concluding Cleveragh Flat Race in emphatic style.

DESCRIBED by her trainer as “an iron mare“, Blazing Tempo turned over odds-on favourite Noble Prince to land the Grade 2 Norman Grove Chase at Fairyhouse yesterday, providing Willie Mullins with the highlight of a superb four-timer.