Better ground helps Laviniad get back on winning trail

In top form in Royal Ascot during the week, seven-times champion Pat Smullen partnered favourite Laviniad to a convincing victory in the featured www.gowranpark.ie Handicap in Gowran Park yesterday.

The five-year-old mare, trained for nearby Ballylinch Stud by Willie Mullins, was repeating a course success achieved last month and bouncing back from a defeat in heavy ground in Listowel, getting the better of Hes Our Music and stretching clear in the last hundred yards to triumph by two and a half lengths.

“She laboured in the heavy ground in Listowel but is a very consistent mare and runs to her mark every time,” commented Smullen.