BASED in Co Laois, trainer Shane Duffy will be hoping to strike gold again with the latest addition to his stable, the recent Sligo winner Dragon Girl. John Keogh claimed the three-year-old filly for €8,000 and watched as the Jessica Harrington runner slammed the opposition.

The duo have previously enjoyed success with claimers and Dragon Girl, their latest, looks very capable of winning again.

Shane has enjoyed some successes in recent years with a small number of horses in training. In a tough environment, he continues to provide his owners with fun and opportunities and Dragon Girl might take him further up the ladder of success.

Bred by the Irish National Stud, Dragon Girl is the daughter of a horse who stands at Tully, the Group 2 Futurity Stakes winner Dragon Pulse (Kyllachy).

At two he was trained by Jessica Harrington and was runner-up to Power in the Group 1 National Stakes. At three he beat the French champion two-year-old Dabirsim in the Group 3 Prix de Fontainebleau over a mile at Longchamp.

Standing at a fee of €8,000 this year. Dragon Pulse’s third crop are two-year-olds and this year Jessica Harrington, a keen fan of his stock, has won with the stakes-placed Chicas Amigas. Dragon Pulse does well with his juveniles and his stakes winners at that age include Aethos and Legendary Lunch.

Raise Your Spirits (Generous), the dam of Dragon Girl, was purchased by Jim Bolger as a yearling but she never raced. The Irish National Stud acquired her for 25,000gns in a private transaction at the Tattersalls December Sale and three years later culled her at Goffs for just €11,000. Her first foal Stellar Jet (Intense Focus) has been placed so many times in Denmark but she never managed to get her head in front.

She was followed by a couple of unraced fillies. Helen Of Troika (Rock Of Gibraltar) and Inner Spirit (Invincible Spirit), before Dragon Girl provided her with her first winner. Raise Your Spirits’ fifth foal is a two-year-old colt, Ronesans (Gale Force Ten), who is unraced.

Raise Your Spirits is a half-sister to a pair of group winners, Astrophysical Jet (Dubawi) and Coral Wave (Rock Of Gibraltar). The latter won the Group 3 Park Stakes and the Listed Flame Of Tara Stakes, her sole victories, while Astrophysical Jet’s four wins included the Group 3 Flying Five Stakes and Group 3 World Trophy. Their dam is the unraced Common Knowledge (Rainbow Quest) and she comes from a family that has been much associated with Queen Elizabeth.

The grandam of Common Knowledge is the 1974 Group 1 1000 Guineas and Group 1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) winner Highclere, a filly who was among the very best racehorses in Europe of her generation. She has left an indelible mark on the breed through a number of her daughters, none more so than Height Of Fashion (Bustino). That mare bred two Group 1 winners in Nayef (Gulch) and Nashwan (Blushing Groom).

From Highclere descend a plethora of Group and Grade 1 winners, and in addition to the above you can add Ask (Sadler’s Wells), Deep Impact (Sunday Silence), Ghanaati (Giant’s Causeway), Kingdom Of Fife (Kingmambo), Lahudood (Singspiel), Rey De Oro (King Kamehameha), Talismanic (Medaglia D’Oro) and Wind In Her Hair (Alzao).