Pozyc has to pull out all the stops to prevail

THE victory of even-money favourite Pozyc in the featured Edmond Whelan Memorial Handicap Hurdle proved the highlight of a double for champion trainer Willie Mullins at yesterday’s rescheduled meeting in Listowel.

Ridden by Ruby Walsh (thanks to a rise in the weights compared to Saturday’s race), John Brennan’s five-year-old cruised into the lead at the second last but, on the run-in, had to work hard to hold Faltering Fullback by a half-length, prompting Mullins’ representative Gary Davis to comment: “That ground is in a league of its own. This horse has to be produced late. Ruby gave him a lovely ride and did it well enough.”

The Mullins double was completed when debutante Supreme Carolina, ridden by trainer’s son Patrick, won the bumper emphatically.