Duntle 1st, the rest nowhere© Photo Healy Racing
We had Ernest Hemingway on Friday night but this evening even his impressive performance was put into the shade at Dundalk as Duntle really made the stage her own with a breath-taking display to land the opening Irish Stallion Farms European Breeders Fund Fillies Maiden.
This once previously raced daughter of Danehill Dancer made all under Wayne Lordan. It was clear from before the straight that she still had plenty more left to offer and she lengthened clear from the quarter mile pole to slam Miss Forde by no less than eighteen lengths.
Well-backed on track, the market-leader Zariyna (9/4 into 5/4) was a further length and three parts back in third. To put the form in a bit of context, Mick Halford said he liked his filly plenty in an interview on Attheraces this morning.
Adding further substance though was the fact that Tearsforjoy the fourth home, for David Marnane, found a starting price of 7/1 from 16s this morning. The real gamble of the race though, and Halford said in that aforementioned interview that she was rumoured to be smart, was Surreal
This Frank Dunne-trained first time out daughter of Sharmardal was backed from 10/1 this morning into 3/1 but she didn't perform up to expectations and beat only one home.
Never one to get overly animated in his dealings with racing reporters, successful trainer David Wachman took a similar approach here when remarking: "She ran a nice race on her debut last year and she's progressed well from two to three. She did that very well and she could go for a stakes race now." (MG & EM)
