Lyons and Keane shine with Listed double Heliac capped off a Classic-winning week for Ger Lyons and Colin Keane by giving the duo a double at Leopardstown. The four-year-old filly showed improvement to score in Listed company in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Noblesse Stakes, and followed in the hooves of stablemate Nickajack Cave who took the Listed Savel Beg Lesmoss Stakes an hour earlier. The daughter of Champs Elysees raced towards the rear in this mile and a half test as Loveisthehigherlaw led from Fresnel. Keane moved Heliac into contention off the home bend and the pair delivered a strong challenge to close on the new leader Fresnel at the furlong pole. Heliac got on terms with Fresnel with 150 yards to go and found that bit more close home to take the spoils by a neck. She was well backed from 6/1 in the morning down to an SP of 5/2. The runner-up was a market drifter from an opening show of 15/2 out to 11/1. Assistant trainer Shane Lyons said: “It was important to get black type for her and, now that she’s got it so quick, we can enjoy the rest of the season. “She needed every yard of that and will get further. She won the Red God (Handicap at Dundalk) and we thought she was well handicapped after that, knowing that she would want further, but obviously black type with her pedigree was so important.” Additional reporting by Alan Magee
