Shane Foley keeps Mona's Star up to his work© Photo Healy Racing
Mona's Star gamely got off the mark in Roscommon and gave Shane Foley a double on the card.
A mile and a half was the trip for this maiden and John Oxx's Mona's Star relished every yard of it.
He surged past Phantasus with a quarter of a mile to negotiate and was soon ridden to go and win his race. Bligh loomed large in the final furlong, but Mona's Star toughed it out well and refused to give the runner-up a scent of victory.
There was two lengths between the well backed 5/2 winner and Bligh who was also returned at 5/2. Natchez Trace came in five lengths back in third at 9/2 while the favourite, Kipling ran unplaced in fourth.
“He did it well. I rode him in Leopardstown and I liked him. He was a bit further back than ideal then, it was my first time to ride him,” said Shane Foley.
“He stayed well in Leopardstown, so I was keen to get out and make a bit of use of him. The horse being keen down the back helped him as it gave him something to look at.
“He's a grand, big horse and he'll go further no problem. He got through the ground okay, it's not as bad as we thought it was going to be as it has dried out through the day.”
Foley, who leads the race for the Irish flat jockeys' title, was also successful on Rocket Science for Jessica Harrington.
Additional reporting by Gary Carson
