Roche swoops on Devonshire

Sheikh Mohammed’s Devonshire stepped up on her previous efforts to get off the mark in the seven furlong fillies’ maiden at the Curragh.

She came into this 23-runner race as the most experienced (with Ask Me Nicely having had four racecourse outings which had yielded best finishes of two runner-up spots. Private Paradise who attracted support this morning from 12/1 to 8/1, showed good speed to blaze a trail. She was grabbed under a furlong out by Corail but Devonshire and Leigh Roche moved through from third to pick off that one close home and win by half a length at 7/1.

Trainer Willie McCreery said: “She had to do the donkey work at Roscommon, but Leigh was able to sit in today and she did it well. The bit of experience helped her. I don’t know is she will run again this year. She had a mid-season break which helped her and we’ll have to see if there is anything for her.”

Corail, on her second start for Paul Deegan, took second at 16/1 having been as big as 25/1 before racing. Private Paradise (7/1) kept on for third, beaten another two and a quarter lengths. New Alliance the 9/2 favourite for Jim Bolger and Kevin Manning, was pulled up early on apparently injured.

Additional reporting by Alan Magee