A first European winner for Justify as Statuette impresses American triple crown winner Justify sired his first winner in Europe, as Statuette took the opener at Navan, the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies Maiden. Out of dual-Group 1 winner Immortal Verse, the Aidan O'Brien trained imposing chestnut was well-fancied to make a winning debut and was sent off the 11/10 favourite from early shows of 2/1. Never far off the pace under Ryan Moore, she was pushed along in second approaching the final furlong and soon got to the front. She increased her advantage inside the closing stages and came home three lengths to the good. Olivia Maralada (5/4) again had to settle for second under Leigh Roche for Michael O'Callaghan, while newcomer Silmaniya (18/1) was another two-and-a-half lengths back in third. Stable representative Chris Armstrong said: "She has always shown loads at home. She could be a filly for the Albany (at Royal Ascot). "We'll take her home and see, she's a very big filly and we will see how she comes out of it. "Obviously she is by Justify, an incredibly exciting sire - his first winner in Europe and he had a very good winner in America last weekend. We have some nice Justifys." Ryan Moore added: "It was nice to start her off on some nice ground. She's a lovely, big filly and she was a standout physically. She did that really nicely. "She's a Justify out of Immortal Verse so she's got an incredible pedigree. "I'd like to think, looking at the size of her, that she will continue to progress throughout the season. "She's a filly that Aidan liked and I'm very happy with what she's done." STEWARDS REPORT * The Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board Veterinary Officer examined Midnight Toker, trained by G.M.Lyons, at the request of the Stewards and reported the animal to be post race normal. Additional reporting by Michael Graham
