Heffernan impressed by latest Camelot winner

The Ballydoyle trained Goddess was the wide margin winner of the opening Irish Stallion Farms EBF (Fillies) Maiden at Leopardstown today, as the Seamie Heffernan partnered filly bolted up to provide stallion Camelot with another very noteworthy winner.

Stallion Camelot's first three year old runners are on the track this year and has already produced two Group 1 winners in the past fortnight, with Latrobe in the Irish Derby and, crucially for today's race, with her Goddess' full sister Athena in Saturday's Belmont Oaks in America.

Goddess had herself experienced every bit of misfortune in-running on her recent debut run at the Curragh but today made all and bounded clear of her inferior rivals in the home straight for a ten length win over Munees Gemini

Winning trainer Aidan O'Brien wasn't present and afterwards Heffernan said “she should have won at the Curragh. It was a typical Irish race, they were all boxed watching one another. I just let her jump and stride along today.

"I'm not sure how good a race it was but she's way better than average. I'd say she's better than September (won her maiden here last year and subsequently won at Royal Ascot and Group 1 placed)."

Betfair initially went 20/1 about Goddess for next year's 1000 Guineas but that soon went and she is generally the 14/1 favourite for the fillies mile classic.

Quotes from Alan Magee