Ger Lyons and Colin Keane combined to win the two Group 3 races at Naas on Sunday with speedy fillies Babouche and Lady Iman.

Winner of the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes last season, Babouche needed her first run of the season when fourth at Cork recently and looked back to her best in winning the Group 3 Goffs Lacken Stakes, a recognised trial for the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot.

The Kodiac filly finished almost three lengths clear of fellow Group 1 winner Whistlejacket, with Eddie and Patrick Harty's Carla Ridge a short-head away in third.

Just half an hour earlier Lyons fulfilled a long-held ambition when he saddled the winner of the Group 3 Coolmore Stud Irish EBF Blackbeard Fillies Sprint Stakes for the first time.

He achieved the feat with Lady Iman, a filly by first season sire Starman, who is now unbeaten in three starts.

The 2/1 shot did not even start favourite on Sunday - the market was headed by Aidan O'Brien's Simply Astounding (4/5) but the favourite could never get involved as Lady Iman battled it out with Green Sense (also by Starman) in the closing stages.

Lady Iman edged ahead to win by three parts of a length.

The winner's stable companion Magnum Force - a Grade 1 scorer himself last year - made his return to action in the five-furlong Sole Power Sprint Stakes later in the day but was a drifter in the betting and shaped as if he needed the run when unplaced behind Bucanero Fuerte.

The winner, trained by Adrian Murray for Amo Racing, was a Group 1 winner two years ago and won the Group 3 Lacken Stakes on this card a year ago. Retired to stud for 2025 he had fertility problems and has been returned to training.

Simple success

Earlier, Charles Darwin justified short odds in the Coolmore Stud The Antarctic Race over five furlongs to stay on course for a trip to Royal Ascot.

Debutant Cardiff By The Sea, a 320,000gns buy at the breeze-up sales, briefly threatened to make a race of it at the furlong pole, but the 1/14 favourite ultimately sprinted clear to prevail by three and a quarter lengths under Ryan Moore.

The son of No Nay Never is a full-brother to Prix Morny and Middle Park victor Blackbeard and was a fourth straight winner of this race for Aidan O’Brien, with subsequent Coventry Stakes scorer River Tiber among the previous trio.

Having already got off the mark at Navan three weeks ago, Charles Darwin remains the ante-post market leader for Ascot’s Norfolk Stakes next month at around 7/2.

“We’re very happy, he just needed a nice sharp bit. Obviously the plan is to go to Ascot with him and it was nice to do it on lovely ground,” said O’Brien.

“Ryan was very happy with him, he’s still babyish and I suppose he’s been doing everything so easy. Obviously when he goes to Ascot, he won’t have much time for learning.

“Hopefully that will have done the job and we’ll just look after him between now and then.”

When asked if the Norfolk was the target, he added: “Probably. That could change, it will depend on what the lads want to do, but I’d imagine it’s very likely.

“Albert Einstein might run next weekend and we always thought he could be a Coventry horse, we thought this could be a Norfolk horse but he needed to learn. He was green and babyish and he has to be just caught hold of today. That’s why we were here with him and we’re delighted.”