As a daughter of Footstepsinthesand it wasn't a surprise to see Sand Fly produce the best finishing kick to get her career off to a winning start in the Kerry Petroleum INH Flat Race at Listowel.

With six newcomers in the eight horse field, jockeys were mindful of the testing conditions and went what seemed like a sensible gallop in the concluding two miler.

The first-timers dominated, filling the first four positions, and trained and ridden by the father and daughter team of Michael and Laura Hourigan, Sand Fly found what was required in the final furlong to beat Hussle Up by two lengths.

"She (Laura Hourigan) sat and bided her time and the bit of class came out. She did that well," said the winning handler.

"Charles Byrnes (trainer of her dam Laetitia) broke her but I'm training her. Her owner is anxious to sell her but why should he sell her at his age - she might be a nice mare."

(TW & EM)