IF ever a filly deserved a change of luck around Galway, it was Princess Child - and she got her just reward when finishing with a flourish to land the €110,000 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Ahonoora Handicap, the final-day feature of the 2025 Galway Festival.

Joseph O’Brien’s 5/1 shot (from as big as 15/2 in the morning) had flashed home for second at this meeting last year in a narrow defeat in the Listed Corrib Fillies Stakes, and she again just failed by a short-head in the same blacktype event here on Thursday.

Turning out quickly here under the in-form Dylan Browne McMonagle, the Janine Byrne-owned four-year-old had front-running market principals Gleneagle Bay and Dunum in her sights at the top of the straight, and she picked up generously under pressure to beat those rivals in that order by a length and a quarter.

This victory put the successful rider five winners in front in the Irish flat jockeys’ championship, leading Colin Keane, who is just back from suspension, on a scoreline of 55-50. The reigning title holder fired back a winner of his own 30 minutes later on the Noel Meade-trained Joltin in the seven-furlong juvenile maiden.

Browne McMonagle said: “She had a good run here during the week; she was very unlucky and just didn’t get the rub of the green until the straight. She’s had a couple of days to freshen up again and was bouncing around the parade ring and felt great going to post.

“She put herself in a good position. The pace was good and even for me to aim at, and she quickened up good to win well. The ground is slower today and she seemed to get through it well. We’re back in the handicap grade again today, though it is very competitive.

“You need plenty of luck when you are drawn in there [in stall six] but I definitely had a willing partner. She travelled well and got me out of there. I knew off the bend it was only a matter of keeping it smooth on her. They were kind of paddling in front and she was a good winner at the line.

“She’s a very consistent filly and seems to grow a leg on this ground. She likes it around here and always runs a good race here. Hopefully she can progress into stakes company again and get her head in front.”

Princess Child became a third winner of the Galway Festival for O’Brien and Browne McMonagle, and the winning trainer was also on the scoresheet at Glorious Goodwood with £75,000 handicap winner Omni Man, ridden by Ryan Moore.