Flat's back! Bolger wins the opener

Missing Matron was the first winner of the new flat season, which returned to traditional home The Curragh today, as the Jim Bolger trained 16/1 winner and apparent second-string won the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden under jockey Rory Cleary.

Today was the first time the turf season's curtain-raiser was held at its traditional home in five years, as Naas racecourse held corresponding fixtures in recent years with the Curragh undergoing development.

In today's traditional juvenile opener Missing Matron, a daughter of Bolger's stallion Vocalised, made much of the running in impressively beating It'll Do My Day by 4.75L.

There was a further three-parts of a length back to Bolger's other runner and third-placed Freedom Of Speech under the trainer's stable jockey Kevin Manning.

Bolger was represented by his daughter Una Manning who later reported “I just spoke to him (Rory Cleary) there now and he said she has the makings of a very nice filly..

“She has a big future. She did it very well, she handled the ground well and did it like a pro.

“He thought that whichever one of them (along with third-placed stablemate Freedom Of Speech) handled the ground best, that was hard to know in advance obviously, and she just seemed to handle it a bit better than the other filly.

“She's something to look forward to and it's great to be back racing.”

Quotes from Gary Carson