MOST of the attention has been on the Ebor Festival at York over recent days and a couple of eye-catchers at Roscommon on Tuesday might have slipped a few nets, writes Andy Stephens.

Divine Legend went off 22/1 for the fillies’ maiden over seven and a half furlongs, but she’s unlikely to be that price wherever she turns up next. The Johnny Murtagh-trained daughter of Blue Point was only eighth with two furlongs to run, but finished with a flourish to beat all bar Save The Sixes.

She was quickest through the sixth furlong (11.77sec) and then unleashed two “very fast” furlongs of 11.19sec and 12.37sec to get within a head of winning.

This effort deserves an upgrade, too, as the steady pace was reflected by the winning time being 0.84sec slower than the RaceiQ Par, with the winner getting the run of things from the front. Divine Legend’s siblings include the promising City Of Dubai, runner-up in this month’s Churchill Stakes, and she has longer trips still to explore.

The other to take out of the meeting was another of Blue Point’s progeny, Cool Azul, who finished runner-up to Sagasti in the seven-and-a-half-furlong handicap.

His chances were compromised by racing keenly for the first half of the contest, especially given he had raced exclusively over sprint distances. However, instead of wilting, he was fastest through each of the final three furlongs, being 1.25sec (about seven lengths) quicker than the winner, despite a tendency to hang left. This effort opens more opportunities for Cool Azul, if he can iron out some of his kinks.