Donnacha O’Brien got off the mark as a trainer last Friday evening with Flower Garland at Dundalk.

The three-year-old filly was sent off the 4/7 favourite under jockey Gavin Ryan and the daughter of Footstepsinthesand ran out an impressive six-length winner in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies Maiden.

The 21-year-old trainer brought his highly successful riding career to an end in late-November last year, announcing his retirement from race riding on his twitter account: “After thinking about things for a while, I have decided to concentrate on training next year. Riding has been very good to me and I owe everything to the people around me.”

O’Brien was crowned champion jockey in Ireland in 2018 and 2019.

After the win on Friday, O’Brien said: “It’s nice to get it [first winner] out of the way. She did it well. She was entitled to probably win off her mark, but I didn’t think she’d win that well. It’s nice to get it.

“She gets the mile well and I think she’ll probably stay a mile and a quarter as well. She had plenty of experience and was very fit.”

Looking ahead, he said: “I have a few nice horses and it’s nice to get the first one out of the way. I’ve 35 in at the moment. We have a few nice well-bred two-year-olds, the likes of Fancy Blue and a few three-year-olds that haven’t run.

“Hopefully there are a few decent horses there.”