I Am Power does it nicely on debut

Michael O'Callaghan recorded his first winner since May 20th, as his I Am Power landed the Foran Equine Irish EBF Auction Maiden.

Making his debut in this five furlong contest, the son of Power was settled behind the leaders on the outer by Pat Smullen.

He was pushed along in third from the two furlong pole, and edged to the front well inside the final furlong, going on to score by three parts of a length. Sankari Royale (7/2) finished second under Niall McCullagh for Johnny Murtagh, while the frustrating Verhoyen (3/1fav) was a further length and three parts back in third for Billy Lee and Michael Grassick.

O'Callaghan said afterwards: "He's a lovely horse and we've always thought a lot of him.

"He has a couple of real nice entries. I only had him 80 percent fit coming here and thought he'd improve a lot off the run.

"He was giving everything weight and we wouldn't have been surprised to see him beat here today but improve and come out and win the next day. That was kind of the plan with him.

"He was a bit green throughout the race and just figured things out late on coming up the hill.

"Pat thinks a lot of him and said he's a lovely horse, a proper six furlong horse.

"Hopefully now he'll improve enough out of that and we can step up to stakes company. We'll stick to six and step him up in class."

Additional reporting by Gary Carson