'She might be a stakes filly' - 100-1 shot Carla Ridge impresses on juvenile day

She may have been 100-1 but there was no great surprise for Eddie and Patrick Harty after Carla Ridge scored a convincing victory in the 6f fillies' maiden on two-year-old day.

The imposing daughter of New Bay was one of the picks of the paddock, showed plenty of early dash and then quickened again inside the final furlong to score by an impressive two and a quarter lengths. 

It was a major step forward for the €105,000 breeze-up purchase from her debut at the Curragh, where she was beaten 15 lengths in finishing 17th of 19.

Patrick Harty said: "We loved her from the day we first saw her at the Arqana breeze-ups. We wanted to give her a nice education at the Curragh. She was a bit disappointing then, but she did today what we hoped she was capable of and she might be a stakes filly. She's a good-sized filly and is bred to stay further too.

"We're enjoying an Indian summer, so while there's still some nice ground we might have a look at what stakes races are around. A Listed or Group race at six furlongs or seven around a bend would be ideal. I wouldn't rule out running her again this year."

Keane helps Odyssey

Brendan Duke had the good fortune for champion jockey Colin Keane to pick up the spare ride on Mykonian Odyssey and his talented but clearly quirky filly needed all of Keane's skill to get her up on the line in the mile nursery.

Duke said: "We had her in the Moyglare but we decided to come here and take the nine grand. She's a filly for tomorrow and she's not straightforward. She had the Samaritans on speed dial all summer before I stepped in and got her a companion. She's a very nice filly, though, with lots of pace."

What's in a name?

The first three pulled well clear in the claiming maiden and it was the Ger Lyons-trained William F Browne who gamely prevailed by a neck from Mighty Day under Keane.

"Who is he named after?" was the rhetorical question posed by Lyons afterwards. 

Lyons continued: "I bought him off Willie Browne. He was walking around the parade ring at the sales, and if you look at the horse he's gorgeous on one side and on the other he has a luminous white eye. When I saw him on one side I thought he was gorgeous and he'd do for me, but when I saw the other I was totally put off him.

"Unbeknown to me, Willie was sitting next to me, and he asked what was wrong. I said to him I can't do white eyes, and he told me not to be so stupid. So I said, 'right Willie, I'll buy him, and when I do I'll call him Willie F Browne' [the F standing for a common oath]. Anyway, I paid 58,000gns for him. And here's how stupid I am, I paid 58 grand just to prove a point!" 

Galveston eclipsed

By far the biggest talking horse of the day was £2.1m purchase Galveston, who made his debut in the concluding 7f maiden. Those who waited around to see something special were disappointed as the Frankel colt finished a well-beaten last of seven behind the Natalia Lupini-trained newcomer Call Me Captain, ridden by Dylan Browne McMonagle.

Read more:

'It's great to get on the board straight away' - Michael Dods springs a 22-1 surprise in Ayr's Gold Cup meeting opener 

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