Rosscarbery beats Yaxeni© Photo Healy Racing
Rosscarbery Paddy Twomey and Billy Lee just keep winning and the four-year-old Sea The Stars filly brought up her four-timer in the Group 3 Munster Oaks at Cork.
She switched to Twomey and began her winning spree in a Dundalk maiden in April before successive victories in fillies' handicaps at Sligo and Roscommon saw her mark rise to 102.
She went off a nicely backed 11/4 shot but Thunder Kiss held favouritism at 6/4.
The latter was given her head to lead over three furlongs out from Lily Pond and Yaxeni Rosscarbery tracked them in fourth.
Lee moved Rosscarbery to the outer at the two pole and she readily ran on past Thunder Kiss coming to the final furlong.
Lily Pond and Yaxeni hadn't gone away, though, and Yaxeni was well up for the scrap deep in the final furlong.
Rosscarbery had her measure close home and scored by a neck from the 11/1 runner-up. Lily Pond hit the line two lengths away at 7/2.
Twomey said: “She’s tough, and looks to have improved again from Roscommon, which is great. She’s been great all spring, she’s done everything we’ve asked of her. I was hopeful she’d run a big race tonight as, up in trip, with the way she’s bred - a stout German pedigree and by Sea The Stars - I thought it would play to her strengths.
“Everywhere we’ve taken her, she’s given us a good day out. As she’s got stronger and taken racing, we’ve stepped her up in distance.
“She won her maiden, she made her way through the handicap route, and now she has won a Group 3. She's the master of her own destiny.
“I think a right-handed track is probably preferable. It was a good race, but I thought she was good enough to run well. She’s progressing all the time, and our hand is forced — we can only run her in one type of race now.
“Robert (Moran, owner) bought her as a yearling, a Sea The Stars filly, and I’m sure that getting black-type was the aim, and it’s great to achieve it."
This brought up a double for Lee who was also on newcomer Funchal in race two.
Additional reporting by Tom Weekes
