Ger Lyons finds winning pattern as he roars back to form with Group 3 double

Ger Lyons has endured a much slower-than-usual start to the new Flat season, recording just one winner prior to Sunday, but he trebled his seasonal tally in some style as he snared two of the three Group 3s on the Leopardstown card.

The Kodiac filly Zarinsk had already shown her liking for Leopardstown when landing the Listed Ingabelle Stakes on Irish Champions Weekend last year, and under a beautifully judged ride from Colin Keane this time, she had the measure of her rivals in the Cornelscourt Stakes. 

She seemed to lead on sufferance after breaking smartly from the stalls, but Keane made the best of the situation and nicked a few lengths on the opposition as they turned into the straight. It proved a race-winning move as Zarinsk got to the line a length and a quarter in front of the staying-on Tarawa.

Lyons said: "She's a very honest filly and I don't think ground is an issue – that surface is horrible and she will have no issue with good ground. I would love her to relax a bit more and get it a little bit easier.

"We will step up now and can go for a Group 2 in the hope she can mature into a filly for Champions Weekend. Colin said that if she's going to challenge at the very top table, it might be in America or somewhere like that."

Asked about his slow start to the campaign, Lyons said: "I took a view that the ground was so bad that I would wait until after Punchestown and we have launched them a bit more this week. 

"We've had a few seconds before today, but when it comes down to it, I don't have many good horses this year. I've a nice bunch of two-year-olds, but I don't have good older horses. I moved or retired a lot of stakes horses last year and they are hard to replace."

That's more like it: a delighted Ger Lyons (right) ended his lean spell with a Group 3 double on the cardCredit: Patrick McCann

Power gets it done

Horses are good at making fools of you and no sooner had Lyons remarked that his older horses were ordinary than the five-year-old Power Under Me landed the Group 3 Amethyst Stakes.

It was a farcically run event, but Power Under Me does still possess some sprinter speed and he made it count under Colin Keane as he held off the challenge of the much-less experienced three-year-old filly You Send Me by a half-length. 

"Have I ever been accused of telling you the truth in the past?" joked Lyons. 

"It turned into a sprint which suited him, and it might give you a false reading on the horse. He's probably between trips. He is not an out-and-out miler and he's not quick enough for the proper sprints anymore. He loves that ground, though. 

"Listed and Group 3 is within his remit all day long. You won't see him on anything quicker than good to soft and we might see the best of him later in the year, but he owes us nothing."

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