PADDY Twomey’s excellent summer continued at Roscommon when his promising young stayer Beamish (112+) took the Listed Lenebane Stakes, clocking a time which signals he can take the step up to pattern class in his stride.

A contested lead shared by the ultra-consistent Yaxeni (112) and Anchorage founded the strong time-figure, with Declan McDonagh appearing content to track the pace despite the bias on the night favouring those who raced prominently.

A closing sectional of 39.15secs was just enough for the four-year-old to overhaul Yaxeni in the dying strides, with the pair clear of Grade 2 hurdle winner Jason The Militant.

The other race of note on the night was won by Herring Island (98+). Joseph O’Brien’s colt was returning from an absence of 265 days and, despite being the first of the principals to come under pressure, he was well on top at the line, completing his closing three furlongs in 38.15secs.

As the pace was much stronger in the feature race, a comparison of the closing splits adds further credibility to the performance of Beamish.

Elsewhere on the card, Busselton (86+) won his maiden on the flat in a respectable time-figure, closing off in 40.61secs.

Joseph O’Brien will no doubt have a Galway target back over fences in mind and this will have put the five-year-old spot on for the assignment. Thousand Tears (86) presented O’Brien’s versatile performer with a stern test and should be noted when returning to hurdles. The seven-year-old may also have Galway as a possible next target, albeit at a lower level.

Grimes Hurdle

Staying with prospects for Galway, although switching codes and venue, jumping returned from a short break with the Grimes Hurdle the feature race at Tipperary.

Saint Roi set a high standard, however he was too keen for his own good after making the running with proven Galway performer Sole Pretender (139), who despite maintaining the gallop found Santa Rossa (143) too strong at the finish. Dermot McLoughlin’s mare clocked significantly the fastest time on the night, which was supported by the quickest final circuit.

The daughter of Jeremy must find further improvement to be competitive in the feature hurdle, which is entirely possible as she appeared to have more to offer at the finish. If connections decide to head Ballybrit their mare will have an each-way chance.

The only other performance of note on the card was handicap winner Delightfantastic (118+). Although no match for her higher rated peers on either the overall time or onfinal circuit, the daughter of Yeats was faster from the third last suggesting that he can rate higher, the relevant data being Santa Rossa’s 56.10secs and Delightfantastic 55.49secs.

NAAS staged an eight-race card on Saturday and while the handicaps were low grade, the performances of Keepupwithmyempire (98+) and Warren Beach (101) are worthy of closer inspection.

The victory of Keepupwithmyempire was yet another boost to the form of Little Big Bear, whose Windsor Castle victory at Ascot is working out well with three individual winners emerging from the race.

Jessica Harrington’s colt travelled powerfully throughout the six-furlong contest and posted the fastest time of the day on the straight track. A closing sectional of 27.74secs was achieved with relative ease with the margin of victory over Victoria Road stretching to four lengths at the line.

Mauiewowie (78+) was equally impressive in the opening race, although the time figure was slow, enabling Ger Lyons’s filly to post a faster closing split. The debutante stopped the clock at 26.93secs for the same distance of ground and is potentially smart, although a watching brief would be advised on the race as a whole.

Good form

Showmolina (88) was the pick of the sprint handicap winners, continuing the good form of Johnny Levins. The son of Showcasing was marginally slower than Pretty Rebel (86) in the fillies’ handicap although posted a faster closing sectional, clocking 27.73secs for the improvised split. In comparison, Pretty Rebel covered the same ground in 29.01secs and Born Invincible (78) 29.64secs.

Switching focus to the round track, Warren Beach made every yard of the seven furlongs to win the Care At Home Services Race. Ken Condon’s gelding combined the fastest overall time with the quickest closing sectional, completing his race from the three-furlong marker in 37.64secs. In comparison, Auguste Rodin (93+) covered the same ground in 38.10secs and Heather Bear (74) 39.16secs.

I would be prepared to take a positive view about the principals in the two-year-old contest won by Auguste Rodin, with Shadowed (91+) catching the eye with the way in which he moved through the race. However, the time-figure of Heather Bear’s win was slow so I would be less inclined to follow the race moving forwards.