Ebediyin makes very pleasing start A son of the Irish Oaks and French Leger heroine from 1997, Ebadiyla, Ebediyin (8s into 6s) looked very smart on debut when taking the opening Donnelly's Of Barna European Breeders Fund Maiden at Galway. It looked to chiefly concern the duelling pair Al Mohalhal, and favourite Cole Porter, into the straight, but Pat Smullen was making a move in behind on Dermot Weld's Ebediyin. The Aga Khan's Raven's Pass colt quickened well through the final furlong to touch off the aforementioned pair, Cole Porter, and Al Mohalhal, by a head and the same. They left Festival eye-catcher Alaskan Son three lengths back in fourth, and there were five lengths to Niven in fifth. "He's a lovely colt in the making but he was very idle and lazy at home," explained Weld. "He's a beautifully bred horse with great stamina. If I run him again this year it will probably be in the Eyrefield on the last day of the season at Leopardstown, over a mile and a furlong - he stays real well. "He's a horse to look forward to for next year and he'll be a mile and a half horse. His half-brothers and sisters have been pretty illustrious so hopefully he will live up to the page. "It wasn't a surprise to me that he won. I got the feeling at home that the first day he sees a racecourse and gets a crack, that he'll take off, and that's what he did. "He had the race won from a long way out. He was always travelling well." J.A. Heffernan, rider of Successor, trained by A.P.O'Brien, reported to the Stewards' Secretaries that his mount stumbled three furlongs from home and didn't handle the track. (DM & EM)
