Afterglow and Ross Coakley were in the number one spot at Fairyhouse© Photo Healy Racing
After a promising debut fifth at the Curragh behind Snow Afterglow (7/2) showed the benefit of that outing with a clearcut win in the fillies’ maiden over a mile and a half.
Ross Coakley had her out smartly from a wide draw and she was in front after a furlong.
The daughter of Teofilo, a half-sister to four winners, had the rest of the field in trouble from early in the straight and she galloped on resolutely to win by four and three quarter lengths from Prose
The 6/4 favourite Oh So True had been in front of the winner at the Curragh but could manage only sixth here.
Her trainer Donnacha O’Brien would have been smiling, though, just a few minutes later when his Irish 1,000 Guineas runner-up Fancy Blue won the Prix de Diane at Chantilly.
The winning trainer at Fairyhouse, John Oxx, said: “She ran very well at the Curragh the last day and I’d have been disappointed if she didn’t win. She finished strongly the last day after a slowish start.
“She stays well and I’d say she could go further than a mile and a half. It’s only a maiden and we’ll have to see now where she goes but we’ll look at some of the nice staying Listed races.
“We knew that we had to be up there and even though she was drawn wide it’s often not the worst place to be. We gave her a refresher the other day to make sure she jumped out better today and it did the trick.
“She’ll learn a bit from that. She’s a nice filly with a nice temperament, a big tall leggy filly who needed plenty of time. I could have run her last year but left her alone and the more time she has the better. Hopefully there is more to come.”
Additional reporting by Alan Magee
