John Murphy told Dave Keena in the Irish Field on June 22nd: "We have always loved him (Cardinal Palace) and if things go right for him he could well develop into a stakes horse. He is a very big individual and it has taken a bit of time for the penny to drop, but once he has nice ground I think he'll win his maiden. He can only improve and he is a horse that I like."

Well anyone taking Murphy's advice went close to nailing a big-priced winner when as a 33/1 chance the Papal Bull gelding finished a close second at Tipperary on June 27th.

Coming from an in-form yard and with the red-hot apprentice Connor King in the plate, Cardinal Palace was hammered into 5/4 this evening for the Woods Financial Services Maiden at Bellewstown.

Anyone that invested in the favourite were counting their winnings from some way out and Cardinal Palace eventually easily accounted for main market rival, Thomas Edison by eleven lengths.

Murphy said after the success: "He could be anything. We gave him plenty of time, he's a big horse. The faster the ground the better.

"I have a few horses by the sire and with every one we get we like them more and more.

"He's a very sound horse. I love him – he could be a Group horse." (GC & EM)