Facile Vega maintained his unbeaten record with an excellent showing in his eagerly awaited foot at Fairyhouse.
As a son of Cheltenham Festival champion Quevega, five-year-old Willie Mullins’ training carried everything in front of him in the big races last season – winning each of his four starts including wins in major races at the Dublin Racing Festival, Cheltenham Festival and Punchestown Festival .
Unsurprisingly he was the shortest price to make the perfect switch to the jumps in the second round of the Fingal Ravens Raceday Maiden Hurdle – and anyone tempted by the odds of 1/9 will have little to worry about.
With Paul Townend taking over the saddle from the trainer’s son, Patrick, Facile Vega rode well and jumped accurately in the two-mile race, before going through the gears on the home run.
Given the lead, the son of Walk In The Park stretched clear, crossing the stage 14 lengths in hand over An Mhi.
Mullins said: “I was very happy with how he jumped on the horse the first time and made himself run. He ran like a cripple and it was very impressive.
Facile Vega made a smart jump on the start challenge at Fairyhouse
“I don’t know what happened in the last third and Paul thought something just grabbed him, he just squeezed and took off straight away.
“We’ll see how he is after this and maybe look at Christmas.”
The bookies took part in Facile Vega’s victory by cutting him to 5/4 favorite (from 7/4) for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham in March.
