De Bromhead's juvenile wins impressively

Star Girls Aalmal was an out of season impressive juvenile winner at Dundalk today, as the Henry De Bromhead trained filly bolted up under jockey Chris Hayes in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden.

By Elzaam and a half-sister to this year's Royal Ascot winner Create Belief, Star Girls Aalmal was an easy Barrier Trial winner in September and finished sixth of 11, when meeting traffic trouble, on racecourse debut in the Listed Star Appeal Stakes in October.

Reverting to maiden company today, the easy-to-back 6/4 favourite made all and quickened clear in the home straight, beating 86-rated Brostaigh by four and three parts of a length.

De Bromhead, who runs Gold Cup runner-up A Plus Tard in Haydock's Betfair Chase on Saturday, wasn't present and an impressed Hayes reported “I loved her when she won a barrier trial here and I tried to be too clever in the Stakes race and didn’t do her justice.

“I thought she’d be a little more green than she was and I got hemmed in down the fence and never got a bit of light.

“I said to Henry this morning that I wouldn’t mind keeping it simple and he said you have free rein. She’s improved physically and is obviously well related. That sire is so underrated.

“I don’t know where her ceiling is but she’s very good. She was flicking her ears and I gave her a squeeze at the top of the straight and she impressed me. She’s going to bring them to big places.”

Quotes from Alan Magee