Saint Sam was a poignant winner of the Red Mills Chase at Gowran Park for Willie Mullins.

Maureen Mullins died at the age of 94 earlier this week and the wife of legendary trainer Paddy and mother of perennial champion Willie was a former director at the track.

Saint Sam, having his first run of the campaign, never saw another rival in the hands of Paul Townend as the 10-11 favourite beat Riviere D’etel by eight and a half lengths.

“Granny would have enjoyed that and it’s a pity that she’s not here to be in the (winning) picture,” said Patrick Mullins, who is assistant to his father.

“It was a great performance and great to have the owners Ed and Mary Ware here.

“The Red Mills Chase was one of the races we pinpointed at the start of the year.

“Small fields suit him – he likes to get on with things and wears the hood. He’s hot and we were a bit worried that he’d be a bit fresh on his first run and do too much on the heavy ground.

“Paul got a few breathers into him.

“Those Grade Twos or Grade Threes are where he’s most comfortable and he could go to Fairyhouse.

“He is a better chaser than he was a hurdler and loves jumping.”

Lantry Lady (13-8) looks a smart mare for the future as she maintained her unbeaten record in the Red Mills Trial Hurdle.

Gone are the days the race is seen as a Champion Hurdle Trial won by the likes of Hardy Eustace, Macs Joy and Danoli but for a mare the Grade Three black type will prove very valuable indeed.

Trained by Henry de Bromhead and ridden by Rachael Blackmore, she had won her only previous race, also at Gowran, by a wide-margin in testing ground.

Doyen Ta Win tried to make all but was beaten three out which left just Gordon Elliott’s What’s Up Darling as the only rival left but he found the receipt of a stone too much and there was almost 10 lengths between them at the line.

“She’s obviously a really nice mare and I’m delighted for the Marigas (owners) who are great supporters of ours,” said De Bromhead.

“She was impressive here last year in her maiden hurdle and then we put her away as she was a bit immature.

“She’s just had a couple of niggles so it’s taken us a while to get her going again. I was concerned about fitness and it was only her second run.

“She’s confirmed what she did in her maiden hurdle and stepped forward again. She’s a lovely mare to go breeding with in years to come.”

As for future plans he said: “She’s entered in the Mares’ Hurdle at Cheltenham and we’d love to go. It’s a step up in trip, but she would strike us at home as all she does is stay.

“I’d say she definitely wants a good ease in the ground so we would be cautious of that.

“The guys would love to go to Cheltenham and I think she is entitled to.”

Anthony Musaba scored one goal and made another as Sheffield Wednesday extended Millwall’s winless run to eight matches with a 2-0 victory at The Den.

The Owls had only scored seven away goals all season ahead of the crucial clash, but they were in front at the break after Musaba set up Ike Ugbo before finding the back of the net himself.

The Lions fought desperately during an improved second-half performance but failed to carve out many clear-cut chances on their way to their fourth consecutive defeat and seventh in that eight-game run.

The hosts started brightly as they looked to bounce back from their crushing defeat at the hands of Ipswich, Tom Bradshaw heading wide from the centre of the penalty area inside five minutes.

The crowd came alive after a crunching challenge from right wing-back Danny McNamara.

The Owls struggled to build momentum during the opening 20 minutes, with their only real threat coming from balls in behind to Troyes loanee Ugbo.

However, in the 31st minute, the Canada international tapped home from close range to give his side the lead following a sensational run and cross from Musaba.

Ryan Leonard produced a long-range shot from the edge of the box as the Lions tried to muster a response but things soon went from bad to worse for Joe Edwards’ side.

Wednesday stalwart Barry Bannan found Musaba with a delicious pass and the Dutch winger made no mistake, stroking the ball past Matija Sarkic and into the bottom right corner for his sixth goal of the season.

That sparked jubilant scenes in the away end, while Millwall’s players faced a chorus of boos at the half-time whistle.

Zian Flemming almost got his side back in the game after the break, forcing an excellent stop from James Beadle before getting on the end of the resulting corner.

Then the Lions’ top scorer won a free-kick on the edge of the box, only to see it rebound off the wall and away to safety.

The hosts almost reduced the deficit to one in the 63rd minute but Duncan Watmore’s driven effort was cleared off the line by Di’Shon Bernard.

Flemming had a penalty appeal waved away by referee Geoff Eltringham with 20 minutes left after a collision with Marvin Johnson inside the penalty area.

Then seven minutes later, Aidomo Emakhu beat his man before conjuring a driven delivery across goal that ultimately came to nothing.

The hosts deserved something for their efforts in the second half but nobody could get on the end of Ryan Longman’s fantastic cross after some nice work from Flemming in the build-up.

Wednesday’s Ashley Fletcher was shown a red card for a second bookable offence in stoppage time, but it made no difference as Millwall slipped within a point of the relegation zone.

Coventry kept themselves in the Sky Bet Championship play-off places after a hard-fought 1-0 derby win away at fellow Midlands side Stoke.

Ellis Simms’ third goal in five league games secured all three points for Mark Robins’ team at the Bet365 Stadium, consolidating their sixth-place standing on goal difference on 51 points.

Defeat for Stoke means they have now lost five of their last six games, leaving them just three points clear of the relegation zone.

Both managers made six changes to the teams that started their midweek games and there was a real lack of fluidity to the first half for the most part.

Coventry did come agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock in the 12th minute though, with Stoke goalkeeper Jack Bonham forced to save well from Haji Wright’s header via a deflection off Ben Wilmot, before blocking Simms’ effort.

The rebound fell kindly to Callum O’Hare, who looked certain to score, but Wilmot – making his 100th appearance for Stoke – was on the line to divert the ball onto the post and away.

Stoke’s first shot on target came just after half-time as Lewis Baker’s tame effort was comfortably held by visiting goalkeeper Ben Wilson.

But they found themselves behind in the 51st minute when Wright caught Ki-Jana Hoever in possession and prodded the ball to O’Hare, who played in Simms to slot home from close range.

Stoke manager Steven Schumacher made a triple substitution just after the hour mark in an attempt to inject some life into the home side’s performance, and moments later Nathan Lowe’s left-footed shot on the turn went just over the crossbar to lift the crowd’s spirits somewhat.

There was further reason for encouragement in the 68th minute as Baker’s goalbound attempt deflected behind for a corner off Sky Blues defender Bobby Thomas.

Down at the other end, Wright had a glorious chance to double Coventry’s lead in the 81st minute but after a nice one-two with Josh Eccles, he blazed his shot over the crossbar.

Minutes later, Stoke substitute Million Manhoef took the ball down well and drove into the visitors’ box, but he could only find the side-netting.

That was the last real opportunity of a contest low on quality and boos rung around the stadium at the end.

Despite ending a four-match unbeaten run last time out with a 1-0 win over QPR, it’s now just three wins in 19 league matches for Stoke, who face a real battle to avoid the drop.

Tony Mowbray celebrated back-to-back home wins against his most recent former clubs after Birmingham came from behind to beat Sunderland 2-1.

Koji Miyoshi capped a magnificent comeback by City after Jordan James equalised on the hour to make it two home victories in five days after they beat Blackburn 1-0 on Tuesday night.

Jack Clarke gave Sunderland the lead in the 22nd minute with his 15th goal of the season as the Black Cats dominated the first half.

But it was a different story in the second half as Blues, watched by 27,449 – the biggest crowd at St Andrew’s for more than seven years when 29,656 saw a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa on October 30, 2016 – looked far hungrier.

Sunderland midfielder Jobe Bellingham – making his first return to St Andrew’s since leaving in the summer – beat Cody Drameh on the left but his cross was blocked by the legs of goalkeeper John Ruddy.

Pierre Ekwah sent a rising drive over the bar then Mason Burstow seemed to have a golden chance to score when he latched on to Romaine Mundle’s deflected cross, but the ball hit his heel and sailed harmlessly over.

Mundle had the first on-target effort but his 25-yard drive arrowed straight at Ruddy.

Birmingham’s first chance was a blockbuster as Jay Stansfield crashed a full-blooded 25-yard volley goalwards only for goalkeeper Anthony Patterson to tip it over after Sunderland partly cleared a corner.

But the visitors’ bright start was rewarded when they took the lead.

Seung-Ho Paik’s square pass to Marc Roberts was easily intercepted by Clarke, who raced on to coolly slot past Ruddy into the bottom corner of the net.

Birmingham continued to give the ball away in dangerous situations and Paik was booked for catching Ekwah late, Bellingham curling over the resulting 20-yard free-kick.

Sunderland went close to a second goal in the 42nd minute.

Mundle got the wrong side of Krystian Bielik but his curling shot – aiming for the same corner of the net as Clarke did for the goal – was turned aside by Ruddy at full stretch.

Birmingham looked a different proposition after the break, however, and their improvement was rewarded with the equaliser on the hour.

Midfielder James slotted home after Miyoshi had two shots blocked – the first by Trai Hume on the line – after Tyler Roberts’ angled drive had been parried by Patterson.

Sunderland had the ball in the net again in the 68th minute – but any joy was short-lived as Burstow’s header from Clarke’s free-kick was ruled offside.

Birmingham’s revival was in full swing when Miyoshi put the hosts ahead with 10 minutes of normal time to go.

The Japan midfielder prodded home ahead of Patterson after reacting quickest to Stansfield’s deflected cross for his fifth goal of the season.

Tottenham’s top-four hopes suffered a blow after a Joao Gomes brace fired Wolves to a deserved 2-1 away win in north London.

Spurs had claimed back fourth spot from Aston Villa with a last-gasp victory over Brighton last weekend but struggled to break down Gary O’Neil’s side.

Gomes headed Wolves ahead in the 42nd minute and, while Dejan Kulusevski levelled for Tottenham straight after half-time, Pedro Neto’s wonderful solo run settled the contest.

Neto raced half the length of the pitch before he teed up Gomes to side-foot home with 63 minutes played to earn the visitors to a fourth win from their last five matches.

There was a big contingent of South Korea fans inside the stadium with two of the nations’ best going head-to-head and Hwang Hee-chan should have scored in the fifth minute.

Wolves worked the ball out wide to Nelson Semedo, who was denied by Guglielmo Vicario and Hwang inexplicably sliced over the rebound from close range.

Spurs threatened for the first time soon after when Ben Davies fired over on the turn before the visitors created another promising opportunity but Rayan Ait-Nouri curled straight at Vicario.

The stop-start nature to the contest continued although Tottenham enjoyed a rare foray into the away penalty area with 36 minutes played only for Kulusevski to side foot well wide from James Maddison’s pass.

Wolves had frustrated the hosts’ well, while also proving a threat and made their dominance count with 42 minutes on the clock.

From Wolves’ second corner of the match Pablo Sarabia picked out Gomes, who headed into the top corner after being given too much space.

It was a deserved breakthrough but sparked a frantic finish to the half with Vicario pushing wide a curler by Sarabia, who was offside before the same player flashed an effort off target.

Ange Postecoglou’s team did test Jose Sa through Emerson Royal but it stayed 1-0 at the break.

It meant Tottenham had failed to score in the first half of five consecutive home matches, although they quickly hit their straps after half-time.

The equaliser arrived 34 seconds into the second half and it was all about Kulusevski.

Richarlison knocked the ball into the path of the Sweden international, who dribbled past Craig Dawson close to the byline before he poked under Sa for a superb sixth goal of the season.

Spurs were pushing for a second but Wolves remained dangerous, especially on the break and Vicario impressively denied Sarabia after Semedo’s cross.

Back came Tottenham with Kulusevski’s low effort excellently tipped wide by Sa before Semedo blocked another shot from the Swedish forward in the 63rd minute.

It earned the hosts another corner but they were hit with a sucker-punch after a moment of individual brilliance by Neto.

Yves Bissouma lost possession on the edge of Wolves’ penalty area and Neto carried the ball half the length of the pitch before he cut inside Emerson and teed up Gomes, who slammed home for his second of the afternoon.

Tottenham attempted to respond straight away and Maddison curled over before Postecoglou turned to his bench with Rodrigo Bentancur, Brennan Johnson and Timo Werner sent on.

Chances remained at a premium until Kulusevski picked out the unmarked Davies deep into stoppage-time but the Welsh defender headed well wide to ensure Wolves completed the double over Spurs.

Watford gave their season the much-needed boost it required with a 1-0 win at struggling Rotherham.

Both teams went into the fixture out of form and on the back of three straight defeats but Yaser Asprilla’s second-half winner helps Valerien Ismael’s team to look up again.

Watford won the reverse fixture 5-0 but were happy to walk away from this one with a much narrower winning margin and were clinging on by the end.

Neat interplay between Hakeem Odoffin and Peter Kioso led to Rotherham’s first chance with Odoffin just firing off target from Kioso’s pull-back.

Andy Rinomhota also shot off target on the volley after Sean Morrison’s long throw dropped nicely for him.

Watford’s first effort came from lone striker Mileta Rajovic but his header, from Asprilla’s cross, dropped wide of goal.

Asprilla then came close himself with his effort from the edge of the box deflected onto the roof of the goal.

Kioso tested Ben Hamer for the first time in the match as he got on the end of Ollie Rathbone’s free-kick.

The home side started the second half on top and strongly appealed for a penalty when Rinomhota went down in the box.

Giorgi Chakvetadze was brought on by Ismael and he almost had a swift impact as he slipped Rajovic through but quick-thinking from Viktor Johansson stopped the attack.

Watford took the lead in the 58th minute when a corner eventually found its way to Asprilla on the edge of the box and he lashed an unstoppable drive into the bottom corner.

Rotherham boss Leam Richardson made a treble change in the hope of getting back into the game but it was starter Seb Revan who twice tried his luck in as many minutes.

The first effort was slashed at but the second would have temporarily worried Hamer before it trickled just wide of the post.

One of the new men, Jordan Hugill, could not get enough of a contact on a backpost header which again drifted wide.

An intervention from Jake Livermore denied Rotherham a leveller as he blocked a header from Tom Eaves after a Sam Clucas free-kick. From the resulting corner Morrison headed just off target.

Tom Ince had a good chance to put the game to bed after being slipped through by Livermore but his effort was wildly off target.

Watford skipper Wesley Hoedt was then in the perfect position to deny Rinomhota’s driven effort from going in.

Rotherham continued to push into added time and a looping header from Odoffin landed on the roof of the net.

Herbie Kane hit the winner for promotion-chasing Barnsley as they beat second-bottom Fleetwood 2-1.

The Tykes had led through Sam Cosgrove’s header midway through the first half, but Bosun Lawal brought the relegation-battling Cod Army level with a stunning long-range strike.

Barnsley, League One’s best travellers with just one away defeat all season, won via Kane’s goal on the hour mark.

Cosgrove had sent a perfectly-placed header from Adam Phillips’ cross inside the far post to give the visitors the lead.

But with just over half an hour played, Lawal let fly with a rocket that beat Liam Roberts’ despairing dive and found the top corner.

Fleetwood had deserved to go in level at the break as, once they had fallen behind, Promise Omochere headed wide from close range and a towering header by Ben Heneghan was brilliantly tipped over by Roberts.

In the second half a chance at either end went begging, Ronan Coughlan denied by Roberts and Nicky Cadden shooting wide for Barnsley.

Kane restored the lead in the 59th minute, slotting into the bottom corner from another Phillips pass.

Fleetwood forward Coughlan was thwarted by Mael de Gevigney’s tackle and at the other end Phillips saw a fierce shot palmed away by Jay Lynch.

Home midfielder Gavin Kilkenny sent a powerful strike inches over in stoppage time, and the visitors managed to see out the victory.

Cyril Ngonge scored a last-gasp equaliser as Napoli’s meek defence of their Serie A title continued with a home draw against Genoa.

A first league crown in 23 years last season already seems a distant memory but Walter Mazzarri will take some solace in seeing his side rescue a 1-1 draw late on after Morten Frendrup had put the visitors ahead.

The result means Napoli sit ninth in Serie A – six points off the top four – as, for the second time this season, they came from behind to draw with Genoa.

With talismanic striker Victor Osimhen watching from the stands after returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, Napoli started well.

Matteo Politano and Giovanni Simeone were lively, the latter heading a decent chance wide at the midway point of the first half.

Alex Meret made a good save to keep out a Mateo Retegui header with the visitors starting to come into the game.

The sides went in level at the interval but Genoa would break the deadlock soon after the restart.

A ball into Retegui on the penalty spot was cleared to the edge of the Napoli box, where Danish midfielder Frendrup finished with aplomb.

Ngonge had a sight of goal as Napoli chased a leveller, while a Frank Anguissa header came close to extending the Genoa advantage.

With time running out for Mazzarri’s side, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia almost equalised with three minutes to go but Josep Martinez kept out his effort.

There was nothing the Spain goalkeeper could do, though, soon after as Napoli finally worked a way through.

A deep cross was headed down by captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Ngonge was on hand to fire home his first Napoli goal since joining from Hellas Verona in January – salvaging a point for the hosts.

Andy Murray has vowed to keep playing tennis as he looks for an end to his losing run.

The former world number one has lost his last six matches stretching back to October and slipped to 50th in the ATP rankings.

The 36-year-old has faced questions about his future but, ahead of playing in next week’s Qatar Open, he has shared his determination to keep going.

“I can do whatever I want,” Murray told Sky Sports Tennis.

“I don’t have to do what fans or journalists or anyone is telling me to do.

“I’m qualifying for all of these tournaments on my right, on my ranking from the matches I’ve won. I want to keep playing just now. I’m not going to stop.”

Murray will face a qualifier in the first round of the Qatar Open, a competition he won in 2008 and 2009 and finished runner-up in 2017 and 2023.

The three-time grand slam singles champion admits he has found his start to the year hard, but is hoping he can return to form.

He added: “Tennis-wise it hasn’t been a great start to the year. I’ve never experienced a period like this as a professional. It’s been difficult, a new experience for me (which) is not the nicest, but good to experience new things and try and learn from them.

“I was never a great practice player, I didn’t used to win practice matches, exhibition matches. It’s been the complete opposite for me recently.

“I know there’s better tennis in me than I’m showing just now, but I’m hoping I can turn it around.”

Yeah Man provided trainer Gavin Cromwell and jockey Sean Flanagan with their first ever success at Haydock with a dour staying performance in the Virgin Bet Grand National Trial.

The Irish raider was a 9-2 joint-favourite for the £100,000 feature, having finished a close second to Victtorino on his most recent trip across the water for Ascot’s Silver Cup in December.

With conditions ultra-testing, the three-and-a-half-mile contest was not for the faint hearted, and in the end it turned into a straight shootout between the bold-jumping grey My Silver Lining and Yeah Man, who stalked the mare into the home straight.

My Silver Lining looked to be travelling the better of the pair three fences from the finish, but Cromwell’s charge started to get on top late on and passed the post with a length and a half in hand.

Yeah Man is not entered in the Randox Grand National at Aintree but Cromwell, who decided against making the trip to Merseyside, is eyeing the Irish equivalent.

He said: “I’m delighted with that and I think he deserved it after a couple of defeats at Ascot.

“We weren’t sure about the ground, but he got through it well. I’d say we’ll go for the Irish Grand National now. He wouldn’t have got into it off his current mark, but he will get in now.

“I think we’ll skip Cheltenham, he may have an entry in the Kim Muir but I’d say he’s most likely to go for the Irish Grand National.

“I’ve never had a winner at Haydock before and I’ve never been. It’s a great result.”

Flanagan said: “It was a very good performance and I’ve actually fallen off him after the line. He just stood on himself and I went over his head.

“The only worry we had was the ground. He had one run on it last year (and disappointed), but I rode him that day and things just weren’t right for him on the day anyway and he didn’t finish out.

“He was duly rewarded today as he’s been knocking on the door and tipped up (at Ascot) two runs back.

“He jumped really well today, he’s a dour stayer and he’s done it really well.”

Jurgen Klopp praised an “exceptional” Liverpool performance in defeating Brentford 4-1 at the Gtech Stadium to consolidate their position at the top of the Premier League.

Mohamed Salah scored on his first appearance since returning from a hamstring tear picked up on duty at the Africa Cup of Nations, with Darwin Nunez, Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo also on target.

But the win came at a cost as Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota were both lost to what looked significant injuries in the first half.

Jones left the stadium on crutches after injuring his ankle and Jota departed the pitch on a stretcher, whilst Nunez was also withdrawn with a knock.

Of Jones’ injury, Klopp said: “We have to see how (bad). We don’t know that yet. The fact Curtis cannot play on tells you it must be something because he would have played on at all costs.

“Diogo looks worse. I didn’t see it back but I heard the pictures didn’t look great. We have to see there.

“Darwin we took off because he said he felt a little something but it was enough for us to push the break, so we took him off.

“The performance level could have dropped (after the injuries), but it was the other way around.

“We played an exceptional game, by far the best game we’ve played at Brentford. Dealing with all the specific situations they create, and being as dominated you can somehow be, be calm in the right moments, be direct in the right moments, use their man-marking, play against the line. All these kind of things. I saw a top game.”

The league leaders went in front 10 minutes before half-time with a fine goal on the counter, Jota’s header setting up Nunez, who finished with a superb chip over the advancing goalkeeper Mark Flekken.

Mac Allister made it two after 55 minutes, showing exquisite close control to beat his defender after being set up by a deft cross from Salah and poking the ball with his toe into the corner.

Liverpool were by now rampant and Salah capped his comeback with a goal of his own, outmuscling Nathan Collins to put the result behind doubt.

Ivan Toney replied for Brentford with his fourth goal since returning from an eight-month ban for gambling offences but the reprieve was momentary, and five minutes from time Gakpo got free in the box and stroked it past Flekken to ensure Liverpool would finish the weekend still on top of the Premier League table.

Liverpool face Luton at Anfield in the league on Wednesday before attentions turn to the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea next Sunday.

Klopp was buoyed by the performance of the returning Salah, but acknowledged the loss of Jones and Jota creates a problem ahead of the trip to Wembley.

“Mo played the first game for weeks,” said Klopp. “He could have had a hat-trick. The goal he scored was absolutely outstanding. Cody’s goal was absolutely outstanding as well.

“You can count the games coming up. It would be helpful if we had a bit more than one (player) for each position. But it’s all fine. That’s the situation and we cannot change it.

“I can’t remember one day here that it was easy, no problems at all.  We have problems. We don’t know exactly how big they are. As long as we have 11 players we will go for it.”

Brentford boss Thomas Frank reflected on a game that got away from his side after they conceded the first goal.

“I thought we were brilliant the first 35 minutes, the best team, created a lot of good moments,” he said. “We should have showed more coolness to create bigger chances.

“We concede the first goal, we knew we were facing a team who are probably the best in the world at transitions.

“It was the first goal we’ve conceded from an offensive set-piece in two years.”

Threeunderthrufive put himself in the Randox Grand National picture with a terrific display off top-weight in the Injured Jockeys Fund Ambassadors Programme Swinley Handicap Chase at Ascot.

Despite being three-time winner over fences, he had not found the scoresheet since his novice days where he was deemed good enough to compete in Grade One company at the Cheltenham Festival.

However, two encouraging runs in defeat this season suggested a victory was not far away and having disputed the lead for the majority of the £100,000 event with Dan Skelton’s Shan Blue, he showed his class to come home a length ahead of Henry Daly’s fast-closing Rapper.

The 5-1 winner was trimmed to 25-1 from 33s by both Paddy Power and Betfair for the Aintree showpiece in April, and with Paul Nicholls ruling out a run at Prestbury Park next month, that assignment could be next for the McNeill family-owned nine-year-old.

“He’s got an entry for the National and he jumped really well today,” said Nicholls.

“He wouldn’t want the ground too soft, that (ground) today was just perfect for him and he will also have an entry in the Scottish National and the bet365 Gold Cup (at Sandown).

“He’s not going to go to Cheltenham in three weeks’ time, I wouldn’t have thought, and Max (McNeill, owner) is quite keen on him running in the National.”

He added: “I’ve always had a reservation about his jumping, but today it was as good as I’ve ever seen him jump. But he’s also better right-handed so there’s lots of things to consider and think about.

“For me the perfect race for him is the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown at the end of the season, but whether we go to Aintree or not, we will all have a chat and make a plan.

“We’ll see what Max wants to do and what Harry (Cobden) thinks. Harry I think is lukewarm, so I will see what he says, but it was nice to win a £100,000 race with him off that mark. He’s a good horse who has deserved to win a nice race.”

Jockey Joe Anderson was able to breathe a sigh of relief after Neil Mulholland’s Mothill continued his rise up the handicap hurdle ranks in the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards Handicap Hurdle.

Anderson garnered plenty of praise for his miraculous recovery aboard Transmission at Plumpton last month but having dropped his whip, he had a willing partner to get him trouble as the 18-1 shot Mothill outbattled Ben Pauling’s Bad at the finish.

“I never realised Joe had dropped his stick until he came back in so if he had got beat he would have been a bit unlucky,” said Mulholland

“He’s such a solid genuine little horse and stuck his head down all the way to the line, it was a great result.

“I think this shows you how solid of a little performer he is. He got into a bit of trouble round Kempton last time and we were hoping he could be placed today, so to win it is a bonus.

“We will see what the handicapper does today and he can’t get carried away too much and we can make the entries and if he doesn’t get in then you have Aintree.

“Somewhere like Aintree might suit him and I know this is quite a stiff finish from Swinley Bottom, but he’s a versatile little horse. There’s a few handicaps we can look at.”