GER Lyons has been the in-form trainer in Ireland in the last fortnight or so; since May 28th to the meeting at Navan last Sunday, he had nine winners from 20 runners with four more finishing either second or third.

That rush of form came after a start that was less slow than it was quiet, at least in terms of runners. In the first three months of the flat turf season in Ireland, Lyons had just 57 runners, well down on his previous years.