CROWNING GLORY FOR PRINCESS

Mullins filly claims the throne of day one feature

PRINCESS ZOE, raised 13lb for an easy win in the recent Ladies Derby at the Curragh, followed-up in style landing the featured Connacht Hotel Amateur Handicap for Tony Mullins and Finny Maguire on the opening day of the Galway Festival.

It was a case of “Ballybrit without the buzz” as the 2020 Festival kicked-off behind closed doors. And, after his big-race victory, Mullins quipped: “Paddy Kehoe (owner of Princess Zoe) is only a mile and a half away and it’s going to be along night.”

The Mullins name is synonymous with success at Ballybrit. And Tony was landing his third feature race at the meeting, having won the Plate with Afford A King in his first year training (1988) and what is now the Colm Quinn BMW Mile with Rock And Roll Kid in 2009.

Princess Zoe (7/1) came from off the pace in a rough, slowly-run race and squeezed through a gap inside the final furlong to score by a length and a quarter from Run For Mary, with a length covering the next five horses home behind the German-bred mare.

Mullins added: “Thank God I bought her on the phone from Germany. When she arrived, I saw that she had crooked legs but the first day she worked I knew we were okay.

“Today proves she’s a good filly. And I want to do right by her. There’s a chance she might run again here on Saturday. But her main aim now is the English Cesarewitch.”

It was a special day too for Maguire, whose father Adrian won two Galway Plates as a jockey, on The

Gooser (1992) and

General Idea

(1993) as his big-race success ended his 3lb claim.

Like old times,

Dermot Weld, inset, completed an opening day double (at odds of 44/1), landing the opening two-yearold maiden, a race he has farmed for decades, with 8/1 shot Blue For You, which swooped late under Oisin Orr to deny favourite Wembley. And the double was completed when Gavin Ryan, riding his first winner for Weld, slipped through on the inside on board Centroid (4/1) turning for home before holding the fast-finishing Penny Out by the narrowest margin, a nose. And Billy Lee, always a force around Ballybrit, took the riding honours, registering a 28/1 double on board Mick Mulvany’s Talking Tough and the Willie Mccreery-trained Royal Canford.