Wings Of Eagles Mare Lands £100,000 Hurdle

Leloopa (5m Wings Of Eagles – Walkthefirth, by Flemensfirth) made it three wins from her last four starts when winning the valuable Ladbrokes Herring Queen Series Final Mares' Novices' Handicap Hurdle at Kelso on Saturday.

The Wings Of Eagles mare placed in a Naas bumper for James Barcoe before joining Fergal O’Brien, for whom she recorded back-to-back wins earlier in the season. Partnered by Tom Broughton in Saturday’s £100,000 contest, she raced in midfield for much of the way and cruised into contention with three to jump. Leading after the second last, she was clear by the final flight and went on to score by eight lengths.

“She was so straightforward there,” the winning rider reported. “She kept finding when I asked and she’s gone away really nicely.”

Speaking from Newbury, the trainer added: “Tom Broughton gave her a lovely ride. She did a bit of work in the week and I was really impressed with her and thought she was a big price.”

Leloopa is owned by the Paddy Brennan Racing Syndicate, and Brennan later commented: “There was big pressure on that race, we’d planned this for such a long time.

“I’m not a betting man, but at 50-1 even I had a bet on her. At Ludlow she needed the run, we knew she’d improve from that and big thanks to Fergal and his team, they produced her unbelievable today.”

Leloopa is the first foal bred by The Beeches Stud out of the unraced Flemensfirth mare Walkthefirth. The game mare hails from the first Irish crop of Wings Of Eagles, which also includes two blacktype National Hunt horses.