Highbury impresses to give Ballydoyle quick double

Highbury powered clear inside the final furlong to open his account in impressive fashion in the Captain Dara Fitzpatrick Memorial Maiden at Leopardstown.

The Ballydoyle colt had been a promising third on his debut at Cork 16 days ago and went to post 11/10 favourite in the mile-and-a-half contest.

Wayne Lordan tracked his front-running stablemate Vice President before asking his mount to hit the front a furlong-and-a-half from home.

The Galileo colt opened up in the closing stages to record a seven-and-a-half length win over Himalayan Heights who just held the rallying Vice President by a nose for the runner-up spot.

Stable representative Chris Armstrong said:- “He's a horse that had shown a lot at the backend of last year and early in the spring and we just had to get him out.

“Aidan ran him in Cork and he ran a lovely race but he was just very green throughout.

“He stepped up a nice bit from Cork to here, he's still not fully there yet but he's a horse that stays very well and he can gallop.

“He could come back here for something like the Nijinsky Stakes, he could be an Ascot horse or an Irish Derby horse. They are all nice options to have.

“He's a high cruiser, stays well and it's nice to see what he has promised at home on the track.”