Zaminast helps Smullen narrow the gap

Zaminast proved to be a more than able deputy for her non-running stablemate Famous Name as she took the Listed Trigo Stakes at Leopardstown with Pat Smullen in the plate.

Smullen took the Dermot Weld-trained filly off the rail two furlongs out and she hit the front a furlong out to score by two-and-three-quarter-lengths from the staying on Defining Year Amazing Beauty grabbed third place.

Dermot Weld said of the Khalid Abdullah-owned filly: “She did it nicely. I’ll speak to Lord Grimthorpe but it is quite likely she’ll be kept in training next year as she is very progressive.

“We have had a wonderful year. It’s also been a good year for Juddmonte. That’s another nice stakes winner for them.

“She’s a very delicate filly and we took our time with her, but patience has paid off.

“She could go to Group status next year. Famous Name was a bit sore and we were afraid to risk him, but we had a good deputy for him. The plan is to keep him in training.”

Zaminast was sent off 7/4 favourite. She was 6/1 in the morning but her price contracted sharply when Famous Name was declared a non-runner.

This quik-fire double for jockey Pat Smullen further reduced Johnny Murtagh's lead in the flat jockeys championship to three.

Michael Graham