Sheikh Mohammed’s Devonshire stepped up on her previous efforts to get off the mark in the seven furlong fillies’ maiden at the Curragh.

She came into this 23-runner race as the most experienced (with Ask Me Nicely having had four racecourse outings which had yielded best finishes of two runner-up spots. Private Paradise who attracted support this morning from 12/1 to 8/1, showed good speed to blaze a trail. She was grabbed under a furlong out by Corail but Devonshire and Leigh Roche moved through from third to pick off that one close home and win by half a length at 7/1.

Trainer Willie McCreery said: “She had to do the donkey work at Roscommon, but Leigh was able to sit in today and she did it well. The bit of experience helped her. I don’t know is she will run again this year. She had a mid-season break which helped her and we’ll have to see if there is anything for her.”

Corail, on her second start for Paul Deegan, took second at 16/1 having been as big as 25/1 before racing. Private Paradise (7/1) kept on for third, beaten another two and a quarter lengths. New Alliance the 9/2 favourite for Jim Bolger and Kevin Manning, was pulled up early on apparently injured.

Additional reporting by Alan Magee