Heavy ground and Sea The Stars mightn't be words you'd readily put together, but after a win for his daughter in the first at Gowran, Sr Cartage a son of the Gilltown Stud-resident, Radanpour impressed in contest two, the Goresbridge Rated Race.

This mile and a half contest was a three runner affair, but it wasn't lacking on quality with the participants bringing in ratings of 90, 91, and 94. King Christophe (the 90 performer), tried to draw it out of his opponents from the front, but Leigh Roche (Pat Smullen suspended) got 4/5 chance, Radanpour, to the front over two furlongs out.

From there he went on to beat the wandering Jacobean and the aforementioned King Christophe, by seven lengths and six lengths.

"He did it nicely, he is a progressive colt. We will probably look at running him in the King George Cup at Leopardstown, the race that was formerly called the Nijinsky, on June 5th," revealed winning trainer Dermot Weld.

"He coped very well with the ground but I wasn't worried about it coming here. I didn't think they'd race yesterday evening.

"He needed this, he is a big immature horse still, and rated races like that are vital for horses like him. He is a big, immature horse still, and his next race will tell us a lot more about him."

P.J.Prendergast, trainer of King Christophe, reported to the Stewards' Secretaries that his charge did not act on the ground.

(DM & EM)