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- Review curragh 4th May
Review curragh 4th May
Iveagh Gardens (white cap) comes with her run under Niall McCullagh
© Photo Healy Racing
< Found suffered a surprise defeat on her comeback in the Canford Cliffs EBF Athasi Stakes at the Curragh.
Deemed not straight enough for Sunday's 1000 Guineas, last year's top juvenile filly still looked likely to score at this Group Three level when going to the front at the furlong pole.
The testing conditions on her reappearance may have counted against her, though, because she began to flounder in the closing stages and was caught by 25-1 outsider Iveagh Gardens who triumphed by two lengths.< Tombelaine (11-2) could go for the Irish 2,000 Guineas after returning to action with a determined victory in the Power EBF Tetrarch Stakes.
Dermot Weld's colt beat Highland Reel and ran well behind Gleneagles and John F Kennedy last term and even though he had to concede recent match practice to the favourite Endless Drama he went in pursuit of him a furlong out and collared him soon after en route to gaining a half-length verdict.
Weld and Pat Smullen completed a double when Fascinating Rock asserted his authority on his three So You Think EBF Mooresbridge Stakes rivals.
Just a length separated the quartet as they passed the furlong pole, but Fascinating Rock was travelling best at that point and although Parish Hall tried to make a race of it, the 2-5 favourite was a length and three-quarters too strong.
The Zoffany EBF Race was arguably the best juvenile race of the season so far and it went the way of the Michael O'Callaghan-trained State Of Emergency (2-1), who repelled odds-on market leader Mimicking to supplement his success here on the opening day of the campaign.< Bobby Jean and My Painter were split by the width of the track as they came to the fore in the PG Duffy & Sons Citroen Handicap, and the former justified 11-2 favouritism by half a length.< Dragon Fei (12-1) made a successful reappearance in the Keadeenhotel.ie Handicap, and her jockey Colin Keane doubled up on newcomer Urbestchance (20-1) in the Monread Centre Naas Maiden.