Islander gives O'Brien a boost

The Ballydoyle team have suffered a number of reverses in the past week but The Islander gave Aidan and Joseph O’Brien a boost when taking the concluding Best Dressed Lady & Gent Maiden in convincing fashion at Cork.

The 5/2 favourite was prominent throughout, taking over two furlongs out from the front-running Bush Pilot and soon asserted.

The Fastnet Rock colt was in control in the final furlong and came home two lengths clear of Dark Alliance with Supposing another three quarters of a length away in third.

Joseph O’Brien said, “He’s a lovely horse but it just took a few runs for the penny to drop. The faster ground is a big help for him and he should get a mile.

“Hopefully he’ll improve again and he’s by a very exciting stallion.”

(TW & AM)