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Douglas impresses on second start

Douglas Macarthur and Ryan Moore pictured on their way to victoryDouglas Macarthur and Ryan Moore pictured on their way to victory
© Photo Healy Racing

Douglas Macarthur made amends for his disappointing debut effort, as he ran out an impressive winner of the Frank Conroy EBF Maiden.

Sent off a well-backed 2/5 chance on his first start, the son of Galileo flopped badly, finishing last of six.

Having opened at 6/5 on-course today, the Aidan O'Brien trained colt came in for plenty of market support, going off the clear 9/10 favourite.

Sent straight to the front by Ryan Moore, he made all and never came off the bridle, going on to score by five lengths. World War (4/1) ran well to finish second under Colin Keane for Ger Lyons, while Your Only Man (40's this morning and from 22's to 18's on-course) was a further two and three parts of a length back in third under Gary Carroll for Emmet Mullins.

Aidan O'Brien said afterwards: "We're very happy with that. The reason we let him roll on was because he was so green last time and needed to learn.

"Even today at the road he landed in the middle of it and he's still a baby.

"In an ideal world he'd have a run or two more before next year. His mind is still sleeping but we knew he had a massive engine.

"He would have learned a lot today. We knew he had a big engine as he was doing very good things. We were taken a little aback by how green he was.

"We'll look at the Beresford or the Golden Fleece for him. I'd like to give him a little bit of time. He's still very babyish."

The winner is a full-brother to 2012 Epsom Oaks winner Was.

Additional reporting by Gary Carson

1st
9/10Fav
Tote €1.70 €1.02
2nd
5L
4/1
€1.80
3rd
2.75L
18/1
€5.30
4th
0.5L
20/1
About Donal Murphy
Donal graduated from Maynooth University in 2010 with a BBS in Equine Business and since attained a diploma in Sports Journalism from Dublin Business School. He holds a variety of roles in the horse racing industry, reporting for the Press Association and p2p.ie, while also working for SIS and the Tote. From Wexford, he is a keen runner and has completed over 100 parkruns at various locations around the country.