Lee excels on Mary Salome

Bill Lee gave Mary Salome (17/2, from 11s before the off) a peach as the grey swooped late to land the Southern Milling & Paul & Vincent Quality Feeds Handicap.

There was plenty of pace on in the seven-furlong contest and the title-chasing jockey bided his time behind the leaders, took the split when it appeared in the straight and collared Ransom (third runner-up on the card for Denis Hogan) by half a length. Drombeg Duke didn't get as good a run through as the winner before staying on well for third, a further three parts of a length away.

This was the winner's fifth victory and she won over a mile at the June meeting here last year.

Winning owner/trainer Andrew Kinirons said: "She has been very consistent this year and ran to her best Racing Post rating ever on her last run, as a six year old.

"That's the way she wants to be ridden - handyish off a nice pace and with something to aim at. She didn't get stopped and flew home. She is stronger than she ever was and she is in again at the Curragh on Saturday.

"She is a great workhorse and is a good guide - if you can get by her on the Old Vic (gallop, at the Curragh) you are going well. We might look at something in France after the season ends here, for some black type and she might run in-foal again next year."

He added: "This is a lucky track for us and that's our fourth winner from seven Flat runners so we'll keep coming back. We have a couple more in on Thursday, we run a nice two-year-old who is a bit green, on Thursday, and he's our first two-year-old runner of the year.

"We have a rake of horses to run for the rest of the season and wouldn't mind a few extra weeks."

Quotes from Tom Weekes