A GLOOMY evening in the west was lit up by one of the great stories of the 2020 Irish flat season as Princess Zoe followed up two premier handicap wins here at the summer festival by landing the Ardilaun Hotel Oyster Stakes.
The German import, who is owned by Paddy Kehoe and his sister Philomena, had climbed some 37lb in the ratings for her four runs in this country but there was a strong sense that she had more to offer.
On a track that suits her so well and on testing ground that was highly unlikely to be a problem, the daughter of Jukebox Jury took another major step forward under apprentice Joey Sheridan.
The strong-travelling 2/1 favourite swept by the Epsom Oaks second Ennistymon early in the straight and went to the line in good style for a comfortable length and three-quarters victory over Barrington Court.
“It’s funny the relief you get from seeing her pull up safe and sound. When you only have one good one you imagine everything that can happen and she’s become very special around our place,” said Mullins. “That was a high-class performance in a very strong listed race and it was even better than I hoped for.
“We will have a discussion now about either the English Cesarewitch or the Prix du Cadran which we are strongly considering. It’s magic for us and also for a lot of other people who love to see a good horse on the rise.”
As he looked towards a possible jumping career and a tilt at the mares’ novice hurdle at Cheltenham the trainer added: “Paddy has had a few near misses at Cheltenham and wants to correct that and hopefully we have one that can do that for him in this mare.”
Kyprios and Prose give O’Brien a smart double
IN a race that has been a notable pointer to the future, Aidan O’Brien secured the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden for the third year in succession with the newcomer Kyprios.
A brother to Search For A Song and a half-brother to Free Eagle, this Galileo colt is jointly owned by his breeder Moyglare Stud along with Sue Magnier and Michael Tabor and he looks to have inherited plenty of his family’s prowess.
The 9/4 shot had plenty to do from a share of third entering the last two furlongs of this mile race but he finished off nicely for Seamie Heffernan to overhaul the game front-runner Lifetime Legend late in the day.
In this race 12 months ago the subsequent Derby winner Serpentine finished down the field on his debut and in 2018 Sovereign was successful before taking the Irish Derby the following year.
This was a first winner for O’Brien in the Moyglare silks and, given this race’s recent history, this colt’s career could be worth following closely.
Deserved success
O’Brien and Heffernan also struck with the tough and willing Prose who secured a deserved success in the Sean Cleary Memorial Fillies Maiden over a mile and a half. The front-running 2/1 favourite looked to be in big trouble when she was joined by Starlight Dream nearing the straight but she rallied well to go clear again in the closing stages.
Starlight Dream’s trainer Matthew Smith had earlier enjoyed better luck as Son Of Hypnos (13/2), owned by the trainer’s father Kevin, made all the running under Shane Crosse in the mile and a half apprentice handicap to defeat Harvey Specter by two and a quarter lengths. The relatively lightly-raced winner could easily progress further and was sporting first time cheekpieces after two good runs in defeat here just over a month ago.
SIX of the evening’s winners had either won or been placed at the track’s main meeting in the summer and one of these was Ken Condon’s Teed Up (7/2) who again showed his liking for slow ground in the Donnellys Of Barna Rated Race.
Now a dual winner and a dual runner-up from four starts, this Robert Ng-owned son of Gleneagles struck the front for Billy Lee with over a furlong to run to add to his maiden win at Roscommon last month. The progressive Teed Up prevailed by three-quarters of a length from the strong-finishing Dance Jupiter who posted a fine effort on his return from 11 months off.
Philip Byrne’s Out On Friday, who deservedly got his turn here in late July, showed his unplaced Curragh run a couple of weeks previously to be all wrong in the 50-75 rated James P. Cunningham Electrical Handicap.
The 4/1 chance was travelling notably well for Colin Keane from some way out and led off the last bend before a two and a quarter-length victory over Ideal Pal. Out On Friday is owned by his breeder Tony Deegan.
A good run for Jim Bolger continued when Dame Dandy (9/4) won the seven-furlong Irish EBF Median Sires Series Fillies Maiden in gritty fashion. The Patricia O’Rourke-owned daughter of Dandy Man improved on her second to Fourhometwo here last month with a determined front-running effort under Kevin Manning which saw her see off the favourite, Royal Blend, by one and and three-quarter lengths.
Andy Slattery senior and junior picked up the 45-70 rated seven-furlong handicap with Khafaaq (16/5) who was revitalised by a return to the front-running tactics that have served him well in the past.
The Eight Star Syndicate-owned five-year-old shrugged aside top weight to gamely hold off Lottieloveheart by a neck.