POINT Lonsdale (6/4f) got his career back on track with a performance full of promise in the Group 3 SP Or Better Guaranteed With Tote Alleged Stakes for Aidan O’Brien and Wayne Lordan.

The son of Australia was a top prospect as a three-year-old last season but sustained an injury in the 2000 Guineas and missed the whole season.

Visualisation, with race fitness on side, set a strong gallop under Declan McDonogh with Point Lonsdale the only one to track him. O’Brien stated beforehand that he thought Point Lonsdale would come on for the run, so you’d have forgiven him if he got tired at the latter stages, but he stuck to his task well to see off Joseph O’Brien’s older horse, the pair of them coming seven lengths clear.

Stay further

“For his first run back in that ground, he’s going to stay further,” O’Brien said of the brother to Broome. “We always thought as a two-year-old he wanted further than seven but we never went any further because we had other horses for that trip. Then we ran in the Guineas and he got injured and we never ran after that.

“He’s a lovely clear winded genuine horse. You see the distance back to the third horse so it was a really good performance, we’re very pleased. We’ll look at the Tattersalls Gold Cup. We obviously have Luxembourg in that bracket as well, so we’ll see. All those races are open to him.”

Earlier, O’Brien and Lordan also combined to win the two-year-old maiden with Democracy (Evens).

Racing over the six furlongs, Aidan O’Brien’s No Nay Never colt travelled smoothly and though not picking up immediately when asked, the penny dropped inside the final furlong and he went away to score by two and and three quarter lengths from the running-on Jaylabee.

“He travelled really well and when Wayne dropped him down to go, he said the ground was very deep and we haven’t let them off the bridle yet so it was a good education,” said O’Brien, who sent Little Big Bear out to finish second in this race last season.

“I’d say he’s a classy horse and he has a lot of speed. He’s nice and laid back. You’d have to be very happy. We could look at the five-furlong listed race back here next month (First Flier Stakes).”

Gladness Gold for O’Brien’s smart recruit

GOLDANA, a German recruit having her first start in Ireland, was the subject of positive reports at a recent press morning at Joseph O’Brien’s yard and she got off to the perfect start for her new connections by taking the Group 3 Gladness Stakes, run in memory of Lester Piggott.

Settled into a share of second by Dylan Brown McMonagle, just in behind the favourite Mea Domina, the daughter of Galileo Gold initially took a while to pick up and chase down the leader, but once she got going, she was a comfortable winner at the line.

Considering she won a listed contest over nine furlongs previously, there was a lot to like about the way she got it done here over seven furlongs, particularly with both the second and third having race fitness on side.

“It’s a great race to win,” said O’Brien of the 17/2 shot. “I’m delighted for the owners (Sights On Gold Partnership). She looks like a nice filly going forward. She had form on slower ground in Germany and this is a nice way to start the season, with a Group 3 win - she had a listed win already.

“We bought her in Arqana last year through Stuart Boman. She is a sister to Love Reigns, who is a smart filly of Wesley Ward’s, so she has a pedigree.”

The six-furlong Tote-sponsored handicap went to Hurricane Ivor (10/1), who came from near last to first to see off Swift Flight by a neck for Jessica Harrington and Shane Foley.

Good acquisition

This six-year-old gelding looks a good acquisition for Harrington and owner Fiona Carmichael, having previously held a rating as high as 110 for William Haggas, mostly taking in heritage handicaps ranging from five to seven furlongs.

He caught the eye when third over five furlongs on his debut for new connections at Cork recently, and appreciated the step up to six furlongs.

The first fillies’ maiden of the season, the Irish National Stud And Gardens Irish EBF Fillies Maiden went to Donnacha O’Brien’s Porta Fortuna (9/2), who won in the colours of Annemarie O’Brien.

The daughter of Caravaggio was held up by Gavin Ryan, before coming with a sustained challenge on the inside rail to just deny Barry Fitzgerald’s well-backed Ellie Moore, in a three-way go made up of Neo Smart on the far side.

O’Brien suggested Porta Fortuna could go to the Group 3 Fillies Sprint Stakes at Naas on May 21st.

Stack doubles up with promising three-year-olds

THE Tote Fantasy Who’s In Your Stable Irish EBF Maiden, a 10-furlong contest for three-year-olds, was an attritional affair thanks to a strong gallop set by Cape Bridgewater, and in the end it was Fozzy Stack’s Bright Legend (8/1) who saw it out best.

The K K Ho-owned colt was settled in third by Joey Sheridan and appeared to be travelling best as the field became spread out in the straight. However, he had raced greenly when making his debut at this track on the opening day of the season and showed that inexperience again by drifting to his left. Once straightened up by Sheridan, he wore Jim Bolger’s Young Ireland down close to the line, and on this evidence the colt, who stands 17hh tall, has lots of scope to progress further.

That was the opinion of Stack, who has made no classic entries for him and suggested he may look for a winners’ race next but it may not be until next year that we see the best of the son of Zoustar.

The Stack team doubled up in the Holden Plant Rentals EBF Maiden through Run Ran Run (Evens), who ran remarkably close to form with Desert Haven from their meeting at Naas on the opening weekend of the season.

Just a head separated the pair at Naas and it was down to a nose here. Having racing alongside each other on the near side rail for much of the six-furlong trip, Andrey Slattery looked to have seized the initiative inside the final furlong only for the runner up to rally close to the line.

In truth, it looked like a dead heat but the verdict went to the Cayton Park Stud Limited-owned colt, who Stack reported could go for a three-year-old handicap back at Naas next.

The final contest on a nice afternoon at the Curragh was typically competitive six-furlong handicap and it went to the Eddie and Patrick Harty-trained Midnight Fire (8/1), who was given a good ride by Chris Hayes, who waited for a gap up the inside rail and took the six-year-old through to win comfortably.

This was a third course and distance win for the Marie Harty-owned gelding, who was given an 8lb rise by the handicapper on Monday (now rated 71) but has been competitive off marks towards the high 70s so can go in again this season.