Meath winners on day one at Bellewstown

The opening action at the three-day Bellewstown Festival saw a fair sprinkling of Meath success at the hillside track.

The Tom Gibney-trained Rhythm Divine followed up on a Downpatrick victory by landing the Mullacurry Cup Handicap Hurdle at Bellewstown with Darragh O'Keeffe on board.

This was Gibney's third winner in August.

“She's brilliant. We were worried about the ground, even though she has run well on bad ground before in fairness to her, as she's definitely better on better ground,” said the trainer in a post-race interview with irishracing.com

Gavin Cromwell took the opener when Railway Hurricane, got in as first reserve, won a maiden hurdle with Jonathan Moore on board and shaded the verdict on the run-in to win by half a length.

Another local trainer, Eamonn Delany, enjoyed a visit to the number one slot when Denis O'Regan partnered Serpolette to a maiden hurdle victory.

The Delany-trained winner was followed home by Gordon Elliott's Jimmy Jimmy and John McConnell's Hand In My Pocket in a Meath one, two, three.

Helen Mooney won the concluding ladies bumper with the John Kiely-trained Erins Benefit which eased clear in the home straight and won by 19 lengths.

Racing continues at Bellewstown on Wednesday and Thursday on the level.