Pale Mimosa comes home with two lengths to spare over Manalapan© Photo Healy Racing
Pale Mimosa justified even money favouritism as she took the Listed Challenge Stakes under Pat Smullen for Dermot Weld.
The five-year-old daughter of Singspiel finished a good third on her seasonal debut behind Leading Light and Royal Diamond in the Vintage Crop Stakes at Navan in May, but she since missed two engagements due to the ground.
Available at 15/8 last night she opened on-course at 11/10 before going off at evens.
Having raced in second she took closer order from four furlongs out and she was pushed into the lead a furlong and a half from home.
She was ridden inside the final furlong and kept on well under pressure to score by two lengths. Manalapan who attempted to make all, ran a fine race to finish second under Chris Hayes for Patrick Prendergast at 28/1 while Mutual Regard was a further length and three parts back in third under Niall McCullagh for Johnny Murtagh at 9/1. Eye Of The Storm didn’t get the clearest of runs and he finished a never nearer fourth.
Dermot Weld said afterwards: "It was an excellent performance by her. She looked a little too well I thought. She was ten kilos up on her ideal racing weight.
"She holds the track record here over a mile and six when she beat Missunited in the Saval Beg last year.
"She did what we expected and she is a very, very high class race mare.
"I walked the track before racing and I was happy that it was safe. It was fast ground but safe.
"She is in the Ebor, she is one of the highest rated in it, and she also has an entry in the Lonsdale at York. She’ll run in one or the other and she won the Galtres there two years ago.
"We will see how the year progresses and she will be entered in all sorts of places that we have been before."
Dermot Weld has now won six of the last seven renewals of this contest, recapturing the prize this after losing out twelve months ago with Unaccompanied who finished third.
Additional reporting by Gary Carson
