FOR the first time in five years, Aidan O’Brien landed the Claregalwayhotel.ie (C&G) Irish EBF Maiden where Innisfree (4/9) built on a highly promising debut second at Naas earlier in the month. This often intriguing two-year-old race served up a cracking finale with Dermot Weld’s Shekhem giving the pace-setting favourite the sternest of examinations before Donnacha O’Brien’s mount found extra late-on to get home by a neck.

The first two finished six-and-a-halflengths clear of the remainder and look good prospects for the remainder of the season.