Malina magic for Fergal O’Brien at Market Rasen

Malina Road continued to impress with a smart win in the Unibet Alan Swinbank Mares’ Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race at Market Rasen.

The six-year-old, trained by Fergal O’Brien, is a point-to-point winner who took her first start under rules with a bumper win at Ludlow in early December.

After that ideal introduction she started at 13-2 at Listed level in Lincolnshire, ridden by treble-seeking jockey Jonathan Burke as she aimed to emulate stablemate Dysart Enos, winner of the race in 2023.

On good to soft ground the mare showed plenty of ability, breaking clear of the bulk of the field alongside Ben Clarke’s 9-4 favourite The Flaggy Shore and eventually prevailing by a length and three-quarters with the rest seven lengths adrift or more.

“That was great, we were delighted with her at Ludlow and we felt she had improved a bit,” said O’Brien.

“To come here and win a Listed race is fantastic, this is a good race and she’s done it very well.

“She’s very straightforward and easy at home, she doesn’t show us a lot but she saves it for the track.”

Dysart Enos went on to win the Grade Two mares’ bumper at Aintree in the spring after her Market Rasen success, and the same path could now await Malina Road later in the term.

“She doesn’t have the speed that Dysart Enos has, but she has that bit of tenacity that Dysart is perhaps lacking,” O’Brien said of how the two horses compare.

“We could look at Sandown and we’ll make an entry, but I think she’s going to be even better left-handed so perhaps it will be Aintree.”