SIZZLING with Seamie Heffernan in the plate, lived up to her name when scorching home to make the breakthrough at group level for Aidan O’Brien in the Group 3 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Give Thanks Stakes at Cork last Saturday.

Carrying Sue Magnier’s familiar dark blue silks, the 7/2 chance was held up in rear until making her move with four and a half furlongs to travel. Putting the race to bed just inside the final furlong, Sizzling was cajoled home, two and a quarter lengths in front of the favourite Kalaxana.

The filly’s trainer reflected: “Seamus gave her a great ride. He took her out at halfway and said ‘come on now.’ She had good form last year and has been trying to win a group race for a good while now, so her form was very solid.

“She’s brave and she’s tough, a typical Galileo filly and she could go for something like the Park Hill Stakes at Doncaster because we know she stays well.”

IMPRESSIVE

Dermot Weld consolidated his good record in the listed Goffs Platinum Stakes by sending out Moyglare Stud Farm’s homebred filly Making Light for an impressive victory under Declan McDonogh.

The 3/1 favourite was always travelling well and took it up just inside the distance, going away to defeat Pincheck by a three-length margin. The master of Rosewell House commented: “She’s run in about three group races and had her summer break. She was fresh and well and it was a nice performance by her.

“She’s in the Matron Stakes and I think that will be her next start. That’s why I wanted to run her here because it will set her up nicely for it. Ground-wise, she’s very adaptable and she’s a very good consistent filly.”

Weld concluded: “She was very impressive today and that’s as good a performance as she’s put up.

“The track is in good order and it’s a compliment to the ground staff.”

Aidan O’Brien doubled up via an all-the-way success for another well-bred Galileo filly Zagitova in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies Maiden, a race that can be expected to throw up several winners.

Despite pulling her off-fore shoe in running, the 3/10 favourite, who was partnered by the trainer’s son Donnacha for the Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Sue Magnier alliance, was good value at the finish for her four-and-a-half-length win over Bandiuc Eile.

“It was a nice experience for her to go around a right hand bend and it was nice to get a win into her,” was the trainer’s immediate reaction. “She had a lovely run in Newmarket and she’s in all those races. The Debutante Stakes might be where she’ll turn up next.”

DEBUT WIN

Duckett’s Grove made an impressive debut for his owner/trainer Emmet Mullins in the Irish Stallion Farms Maiden confined to two-year-olds, dictating it from the front under Gary Carroll to see off the odds-on favourite, Mount Everest, who was being pushed along from a long way out, by two and a half lengths.

Mullins, whose horses have been running well all summer, has the big, strong 8/1 winner entered for a Group 2 event at the Champions weekend fixture and suggested: “If I still have him we’ll aim for that. He’s a lovely horse and I bought him last year in Keeneland.

“I always thought a huge amount of him but when he went to the breeze-up sales, no-one seemed to pay much heed to him and I had to bring him home. I had a hefty price tag on him but that experience stood to him and in everything he’s shown me at home, he’s different class to any other two-year-old I’ve had.

“Everything he did just came to him straight away and Gary has sat on him a couple of times and liked him. He’s a big-galloping horse and everything he does this year is a bonus because Gary said he’s going to make an awesome three-year-old.”

Comfortable victory

Nathan Crosse got first run on his younger brother Shane in the apprentice handicap when guiding Thiswaycadeaux to a one-and-a-quarter-length success over Tennesse Waltz.

The 6/1 winner is trained by his boss Willie McCreery for his wife Amanda who was enjoying a few days away in Brittas Bay.

The four-year-old appreciated the rain that fell beforehand, with the Curragh trainer commenting: “She needs an ease in the ground and luckily it came in time. I thought Nathan did a grand job on her, just letting her do her own thing and she’s paying her way. She hasn’t run since Derby day where the ground was too quick for her.”

The application of a tongue tie has certainly done the trick for the Pat Fahy-trained Stormy Belle (6/1) who posted back-to-back wins in the Irish EBF Supporting Irish Champions Weekend Fillies Handicap when wearing down Soffia to nail it by a head for her owner Pat Byrne.

Fahy explained: “We ran her in Galway and she flattened out, so we put the tongue tie on her and got the result in the end. She was a good two-year-old, winning her maiden by six lengths but when she came back, she was never as good and her races made no sense.

“She’s just gone in foal to Elzaam, so we’ll creep away now and run her up until her time is up.”

Lady Sonia, from the Andy Slattery stable, completed a brace for Gary Carroll with her one-length defeat of market leader Finvarra whose rider Tom Madden was handed a three-day whip ban and ordered to attend RACE for one day’s tuition.

The 9/1 chance was a first success for the Hello Bang Bang Syndicate from Lucan whose members are spread worldwide.

Her trainer stated: “She’s only 15hh but has great heart and the bit of rain helped.

“She was drawn 18 but jumped out of the stalls well and did everything right. She’ll go to Listowel, with something before that because I think the lads have a stag down there.”

ACTING STEWARDS

C. O’Mahony, E. Flannery, O. Kearney, C. Powell, L. Walsh.

HORSE TO FOLLOW

BALADIYA (D.K. Weld): She overcame a tardy start and ran green on her first start in a useful-looking fillies’ maiden to take fourth. Will learn plenty from the experience and sure to know more next time.