Lyons eyes Queen Mary for Sparkling Sea

There was a lot to like about Sparkling Sea s debut victory at 7/1 in the opening juvenile fillies' maiden at Naas.

Colin Keane raced the Starspangledbanner filly close to the pace over the extended five furlongs and she travelled through to pick it up from Stella Alpina over a furlong out. Fairy Godmother the 4/7 favourite, attempted to follow her through, but Sparkling Sea showed a willing attitude under a Colin Keane drive in the final 150 yards.

She kept up the gallop to beat Fairy Godmother by two and a-half lengths. Cold Hearted was another three lengths away in third at 14/1.

Ger Lyons said: “I’ve a lovely bunch of two-year-olds and I’d say the fillies are smart.

“She was raw, all speed. She did what we thought she would do and let’s see how she comes out of it.

“There should be huge improvement as we don’t take them away on grass and this is their day out.

“She’s all speed and she will get quicker. At the minute we would be thinking Queen Mary-type filly.”

Additional reporting by Alan Magee