Servalan slaloms through to Listed success

The featured Yeomanstown Stud Irish EBF Stakes at Naas looked a wide-open affair beforehand, and so it proved as a little over a length covered the first four home, with Servalan weaving her way through to get up close home for Jessica Harrington and Shane Foley.

The handicapper’s ratings for this Listed race were fairly spot-on, as he had the leading quartet all rated within two pounds of each other.

The winner, a second on the card for No Nay Never, won her maiden at the track last year, and had been runner-up in a Listed race at Cork on her only previous outing this season.

She went one better here, bursting through when the gaps finally came for her to score by a short-head from Woody Creek The first two were both 11/2 co-favourites, along with the unplaced Heavenly Holly Richard Hughes’ Gold Filigree did best of the four British visitors by finishing third at 25/1.

Winning trainer Jessica Harrington said : “Shane said she would have been very unlucky if she hadn’t won as twice the gap closed. When they go that quick and she relaxes, she has some devastating turn of foot. He said they went very quick.

“The trouble is there are very few races for her over six but Shane thinks she might get seven if she relaxes and you can leave her.

“It’s brilliant as Vimal (Khosla, owner) is over here. She loves that ground and she might have to travel to find a race.”

Additional reporting by Alan Magee