THERE were group, listed and premier handicap races at Cork last Friday, but to cover them first would bury the lead, which has to be Babouche, a wide-margin winner of the opening juvenile maiden for fillies.

The Ger Lyons-trained filly won by five lengths, but pulled nine lengths clear of those that raced with her on the far side, the field splitting from an early stage.

That split led to the near side appearing to be ahead at halfway and meant that Colin Keane had to ask for effort earlier than ideal to ensure his filly wasn’t left behind, but the result was a highly impressive victory as she powered clear late.

Those visuals were not supported by the clock – Timeform went with a form rating of 92 but a timefigure of 64 – nor were her closing sectionals particularly sharp, but both her pedigree and future entries recommend her.

A full-sister to Zarinsk, a 109-rated Group 2 winner for the same connections, she is one of a small handful of Lyons juveniles that have major entries upcoming. Lyons and, to a lesser extent, Juddmonte, tend not to enter their unproven horses up until they have shown it on the track.

At the time of writing, Lyons has just five future entries in juvenile group races: one in the Railway Stakes, two each in the Airlie Stud and Phoenix Stakes, with Babouche in the last two.

Assistant trainer Shane Lyons said she would improve a lot for the run: “It was her first time seeing grass [so] she’ll come on immensely”. She has already reached a high level on debut.

McCreery newcomer

There were plenty of well-bred types in behind the winner, including the runner-up Lunigiana, and she shaped a fair bit better than the result.

Out of the same owner’s Athasi Stakes winner Dolce Strega, she was slowly away and raced in rear, not getting a clear path until the final furlong and a half but doing plenty of running from there.

Her pedigree is a mixed bag, by Mehmas with staying types among her siblings, but six furlongs looked fine for the Willie McCreery-trained filly here.

Of the other races at Cork, Clarendon House ran out a comfortable winner of the Midsummer Sprint Stakes as there was no repeat of his antics at the stalls in the Epsom Dash, though at least half of the field did not run their race.

That said, runner-up Erosandpsyche looked on the way back on his second start of the year having missed all of 2023, travelling well for a long way, with an easy five furlongs like this or Tipperary suiting him best.

Sumiha confirmed the promise of her unlucky course-and-distance second in the Noblesse back in April to win the Munster Oaks, suited by the slower ground and being ridden with more restraint than at the Curragh last time as well as reverting to her own sex.

After just four starts, there could be more to come from her, though she is heading on a break for the autumn.

The third home, Scarlett O’Hara, might be of more immediate interest if stepping up in trip.

Logical target

She looked to find this mile and a half too sharp but went close in the Stanerra Stakes last season over a mile and six furlongs and that race is a logical next target for her.

The Cork Derby provided a fine success for Willie Ross with La Dame Blanche, the trainer not long with his current licence, but the quality of the form looks suspect.

It was run at a slow gallop, the overall time 3.33 seconds slower than the Munster Oaks, while the field lacked premier handicap depth.

Only four of the 10 runners were rated higher than 80.

Trainers aren’t targeting the race with their better horses, preferring the Duke of Edinburgh at Royal Ascot for one, where there were nine Irish entries at the five-day stge, or preferring the Ragusa Handicap at Irish Derby weekend with its prize fund of €100,000.

The Cork Derby is worth less than half that.

GOWRAN hosted run-of-the-mill meetings last Sunday and Monday but the final winner of the two days, Influential Lady, is anything but ordinary.

A rare winner on the flat aged 10 or older, she became just the 24th such winner in Ireland since the start of 2020, though unlike many of that cohort who were sprint handicap cult heroes like Geological, Togoville and Blairmayne, she has no flat background.

A six-time winner under National Hunt rules with 53 combined runs in bumpers, over hurdles and fences, she only made her flat debut as an eight-year-old but showed good resolution to come from rear at the top of the straight to get up late, a feat rarely achieved at Gowran.

She will have given her trainer Jimmy Barcoe lots of satisfaction and he is well on the way to having a career year, four winners already in 2024, not far behind his bests of six in 2021 and five in 2014.

THERE were plenty of Irish runners at Royal Ascot on Tuesday but only three of the 22 managed to play any part in the finish so the Irish angle on that meeting will be covered next week, and instead a trio of eye-catchers from Fairyhouse last Friday will have to do.

The first is a winner, Booyea, and while the form of the four-runner conditions race can be crabbed with the favourite and eventual third meeting trouble, there were other positives to take from his performance.

He was having his first start of the year against race-fit rivals while also being one of very few hold-up horses to make an impact on the card, all this coming over a seven-furlong trip that looked too sharp for him judged on his three-year-old form.

He showed surprising speed late with a final three furlong split that was bettered by only one horse on the card, a fair effort considering four of the earlier races were over sprint trips.

His rivals here were rated up to a stone higher than him so his mark has gone up as a result, but he might just have improved over the winter with longer trips likely to see him to better effect and he has an entry in the mile premier handicap over Irish Derby weekend.

Fiery Lucy was a comfortable winner of the opening juvenile maiden, but things might have been different had The Road Is Long got any sort of break in the race. Though he finished eighth, he shaped much better than that, missing the break and making an early move into mid-division before running into the back of a rival and being forced back to last.

In the straight, he again met trouble, finishing strongly after the front-runners had gotten away, but his final furlong was the fastest in the race per Course Track.

Winning an auction maiden like the race he contested here should be a formality.

The pace set by Out On Friday in the mile-and-six-furlong handicap was overly strong and tested both stamina and fitness, with the sixth-placed Extensio, returning from a 265-day absence, seemingly found out on the latter.

He had a wide trip that got wider when bumped by a rival four furlongs from home, but nothing travelled better early in the straight only for his effort to flatten out late.

Pat O’Donnell’s stable star improved plenty for his first run last season and can be expected to do the same this year, so it would be no surprise if he continues on the sharp upward curve he was taking last summer.