Lone Star proves apt winner of Lady Buttons heat for Phil Kirby

Lone Star honoured a former heroine of the Phil Kirby stable when winning the Racing TV Go North Lady Buttons Mares’ Hurdle Series Final at Musselburgh.

The race is named after Kirby’s popular and successful mare, a Grade Two winner who took 15 races throughout her career and was victorious in bumpers, over hurdles and fences.

Lone Star has been on the up all season, winning four of her last five starts by good margins, including a course-and-distance victory earlier in the month.

Under Joe Williamson she was an easy winner again this time, pulling away to win by a decisive nine lengths as the 3-1 favourite despite having gone up 10lb in the handicap since her last run.

“She’s really good, she’s progressing all the time,” Kirby said.

“It’s brilliant to win Lady Buttons’ race,  that’s an extra bonus. We set out our stall out for this race and it’s nice when it works out.

“For the last five or six runs, she’s just been getting better and better, I’m not sure where the end is yet but she keeps winning for now.

“She’s going the right way, where the end of it all is we’ll find out as we go along, but at the moment she’s going in the right direction.”

A step up in grade could now be on the agenda for the six-year-old, with the Listed bearrene.com Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham on April 20 pencilled in already.

Kirby said: “There’s the mares’ Listed race at Cheltenham in late April, there’s a novice there that’s probably where we’ll go next.”