Listowel decimatedby 36 non-runners

FOLLOWING 50 millimetres of rain on the lead-in to the meeting, there were 36 non-runners, including some reserves, at Listowel yesterday.

No less than 33 of them were due to the ground, Captain May refused to load in the second, Misteireach was withdrawn at the start in the fourth, Dare To Doubt came out of the fifth because of a passport irregularity, and, rather remarkably, eight of the 12 possibilities failed to meet their planned engagement in the Dr Louis O’Carroll Maiden Hurdle.

In the Bryan McMahon Race over a mile and six, Michael Hourigan’s well-backed False Economy turned over Dermot Weld’s market-leader, Notable Graduate. The favourite edged ahead for Nina Carberry early in the straight, but Hourigan’s daughter, Laura, timed it to perfection and the winner, surging ahead through the last fifty yards to score by half a length.