Ides Of August wins on debut

Ger Lyons and Colin Keane teamed up to win the Irish Stallion Farms EBF (C&G) Maiden at Leopardstown today as the Irish 2,000 Guineas winners scored with well backed Ides Of August (6/1 — 3/1).

The son of More Than Ready was held up in mid-division by Keane, the pair made progress entering the straight and in the end moved past leader Southern Cape close home, for a half length win over that rival.

Afterwards trainer Lyons stated “he's a nice horse. They went a nice seven-furlongs there which I don't think they did in the fillies race.

“He was bred by Maurice (Regan). You might not see him back too quick because he's only a project and he needs to get stronger.

“He wants every yard of the seven. If they ran that race like they ran the first we would have been in trouble.

“We won't rush him, you'll see him next over a mile. He's still just a baby.”

'Ides of', in the ancient Roman calendar, refers to the first full moon of a given month, which usually fell between the 13th and 15th. The ides of a month is therefore a day falling roughly in the middle of each month.

Quotes from Gary Carson