Instant Appeal strikes at the third attempt

Old Faithful was all the rage for the opening Irish Stallion Farms EBF (C&G) Maiden at Gowran Park but he proved no match for the front-running Instant Appeal

Old Faithful (8/15fav) was fancied to take a step forward from his debut third to odds-on stablemate Diego Velazquez at the Curragh last month but Instant Appeal had also shown useful placed form on both previous starts including behind City Of Troy.

Scott McCullagh made most on the Jessica Harrington-trained 4/1 chance and he kept on strongly inside the final furlong to beat Starliner by a length and a quarter.

Old Faithful could find no extra for Ryan Moore inside the final furlong finishing a further length and three quarters back in third.

Stable representative Richie Galway said, “His couple of runs were promising and we were hoping he could do that. Like some of Jessie’s he has gone through a bit of a growth spurt.

“He looks like he wants a mile and he loves that ground.

“Scott was good on him, he looks progressive and was probably stronger at the line than a furlong down so you would hope he has a nice future ahead of him.

“The ground is important and if we keep getting this weather and he comes out of this well we can have a look at a few end of season Stakes options but he’s probably a horse for next year.

“Alpha is a trading syndicate so we will see what that brings.”