WHAT a bargain buy Akiliyna was last year. The Aga Khan owned and bred filly, then a three-year-old, was sent to the Goffs November Sale with a record of having beaten just one of her 11 opponents in two starts.

Her sale prospects were not hopeless however as she was well related, being a daughter of Holy Roman Emperor and a half-sister to five winners, one of which was the Lenebane Stakes victor Aklan. That listed race is run at Roscommon and perhaps the family has a fondness for the air in the west as Akiliyna opened her winning account at Ballinrobe on Monday on her fifth start.