IT was this day two weeks ago that Princess Zoe announced herself on the Irish racing scene. Backed down from prices as high as 10/1 for the last-race Ladies’ Derby on Irish Oaks day at the Curragh, the former Germany-based mare made a mockery of her mark of 70, shooting clear under Jody Townend.

That resulted in a 13lb rise to a mark of 83 but that was no problem at all at Galway on Monday night as again her turn of foot was seen to significant effect late on in the Connacht Hotel Handicap, the race they call the Amateur’s Derby.