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Listed success is best yet

Who What When could be heading for more bumper honours at Sandown or Aintree in the spring after giving trainer Murty McGrath his biggest triumph to date with a Listed success at Market Rasen on Thursday.

McGrath, who has been training at East Malling in Kent for 10 years, rode as an amateur in Ireland and England and was head lad for Jenny Pitman and later for her son, Mark.

He only has six horses in training, but has found a gem in Who What When (12-1), who followed up her debut win at Newbury last month in some style in the Alan Swinbank Mares’ Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race.

The four-year-old put the race to bed early in the straight when given the office by Josh Moore and crossed the line three and a quarter lengths to the good over Mrs Hyde, the 10-11 favourite.

“She was very impressive today. She came on nicely from Newbury, She’s a big, tall filly and will progress even more,” said McGrath.

“She’ll have an easy month or so, but where we go next, I don’t know. We would maybe consider going to Aintree, or maybe the mares’ bumper at Sandown. I think I’ll be staying away from Cheltenham for the time being. She’s only four.”

He added: “This is our biggest success by a long way. We had a couple of nice winners round Kempton before and had a nice winner at Cheltenham’s April meeting.

“I used to ride as an amateur in Ireland, then I rode as an amateur for Mrs Pitman for a year then I was head lad for Mrs Pitman and for Mark Pitman for quite a while.”