THE strains of Beautiful Meath may not have been ringing out from Croke Park after happenings in the All-Ireland semi-final, but all was not lost for a couple of staunch supporters of ‘the Royals’, absent from Navan in favour of GAA headquarters. Noel Meade and Johnny Murtagh were both responsible for winners.

Murtagh’s Zuheila (5/2 favourite from 12/1 earlier in the day) took the Ardboyne Hotel Maiden on her debut, with Ben Coen in the plate in the Aga Khan silks. She may have been awkward from the stalls, but that didn’t ultimately stop the Blue Point filly from out-gunning Washington Street by half a length.