Along Came Casey on upward curve

Along Came Casey landed a gamble in the Listed Hurry Harriet Stakes and in so doing made it three from three at Gowran Park.

From Burlington Bertie 100/30 in the morning, she was further backed in from 9/4 at the track to 6/4 favourite on the off.

Once she challenged front-runner Belle De Crecy at the two furlong pole, the result was never in doubt as she powered away to score by three lengths with Pat Smullen doing the steering.

Belle De Crecy (8/1) held on for second by a short head from Say (5/2).

“She did what I expected her to do. She’s unbeaten around here. She’s so consistent and loves fast ground,” Dermot Weld said.

“The Dance Design Stakes at the Curragh is a logical next race for her. It’s also over nine furlongs which is probably her optimum distance.

“She’s tough, genuine and consistent and really the ground can’t be fast enough for her. Because of that we may go to America with her later.

“She ran Declaration Of War to half a length on the polytrack. She’s a very high-class filly and she’s really improving. She’s certainly entitled to have a crack at Group 1 company before the end of the year.” Snow Queen again was extremely reluctant to leave the stalls, eventually jumping off at least 10 lengths behind the field. This time she wasn’t able to get into contention and was eased to come in 10th.

Johnny Murtagh, trainer/jockey of runner-up Belle De Crecy, said: “She’s Listed placed now and improving all the time. I’m delighted with the way she ran and she might win one of these.”

Additional reporting by Alan Magee