Imagine If wins opener for Lyons & Keane

The Ger Lyons trained Imagine If justified 6/4 favouritism when winning the opening Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden at Navan today, eventually holding on for a nose win over faster finishing Elizabeth Browning

Ridden by Colin Keane, the son of Dream Ahead was prominent throughout but in the end needed the winning line, as Elizabeth Browning finished well for a close second.

Following the race Lyons stated “it was closer than we would have liked but he got it done. He hung and he has problems in his knees so couldn’t have it soft enough. When he has conditions in his favour we think he could be very smart.

“The reason you haven’t seen him (during the summer months) is because his knees are sore and open. We hoped to win last Sunday (second at Naas) and put him away but to come back and do that, ‘A’ was a bit quick and ‘B’ we were asking a lot of the knees.

“You could see him hanging and it’s not through badness, it’s just through immaturity and pain. Hopefully we’ll get everything settled down and I’d say he could grow into a very smart horse but he’ll need soft ground.”

By Tom Weekes, quotes from Gary Carson