Westerner head shot

Westerner Mare Gains Maiden Hurdle Victory

Rocked Up (6m Westerner - Rock Gossip, by Inchinor) kept on strongly to win the mares’ maiden hurdle at Market Rasen on Sunday.

The Jonjo O’Neill-trained mare finished second on reappearance last month and stepped up to two and a half miles at the weekend. Jonjo O’Neill Junior positioned the bay in midfield, pushing her along from three out and led at the second last. The daughter of Westerner ran on strongly to deny the favourite by two and a quarter lengths, with the front pair drawing clear of the third horse.

Rocked Up began her career with Graham McKeever and breeder Barbara Hanna, for whom she won a four-year-old mares’ maiden at Toomebridge and was placed in a mares’ bumper at Down Royal.