Lyons has high hopes for Mauiewowie

Filly looked smart on debut.

Ger Lyons has Group One aspirations for Mauiewowie who made a taking winning debut in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies Maiden at Naas.

The daughter of Night Of Thunder, who has a big white blaze and four white feet, cost 155,000 guineas as a yearling, up from 52,000 guineas as a foal.

Sent off the 6-4 second favourite behind Silmaniya, it was the front two in the betting who pulled clear, but Colin Keane only needed hands and heels to push her out to win by two and a quarter lengths.

“She’s a nice filly and we liked her,” said Lyons.

“We’re not surprised by that, she has entries. She had sore shins and stuff and we just gave her a chance.

“She was one that I was contemplating starting off in a stakes race but I said I would do that if I was looking for place money, but I know she’s a stakes filly.

“Hopefully she could be a filly for something like the Cheveley Park, in time. We like her a lot and have done from the start.”

Auguste Rodin hit the mark at Naas
Auguste Rodin hit the mark at Naas (Gary Carson/PA

Auguste Rodin impressed jockey Seamie Heffernan in winning the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden as the 30-100 favourite.

A son of Deep Impact out of multiple Group One winner Rhododendron, Auguste Rodin finished second on his racecourse bow but he stepped up on that with a cosy two-length success for trainer Aidan O’Brien.

“He had a lovely first run and he was an easy winner,” said Heffernan.

“He gives me the feel of a proper horse. Hopefully he keeps getting stronger. He won easy and it was nice to do the steering.”

Jessica Harrington’s Keepupwithmyempire (9-4) had made a promising debut behind Royal Ascot winner Little Big Bear and opened his account in the Irish EBF Median Sires Series Race.

Assistant trainer Kate Harrington said: “That was great. The ground maybe wasn’t ideal for him, it was plenty on the soft side, but he quickened up well.

“He’ll improve for a bit nicer ground and he’s a lovely horse. He stepped forward from his first run and that’s what we thought he’d do today.

“He’s a very good natured horse at home, very relaxed, but he wants to get on with things.

“He holds an entry in the Ballyhane here, that’s at the beginning of August, so he could easily go straight there because it’s such a big pot and then step up into Group company.”

Warren Beach (11-4) completed his hat-trick in the Care At Home Services Race.

Trained by Ken Condon, Billy Lee’s mount followed up wins at Gowran and Listowel with a four-and-a-half-length verdict over Corporal Violette.

“He did that well, he’s improving and the blinkers have helped him concentrate,” said Lee.

“He was a bit slow away again but the small field helped. I kept him wide early so he could find his feet, I didn’t want to be racing too early.

“He got into a nice rhythm, I picked him up and he keeps galloping. He gets the seven furlongs well and he’ll get a mile. He’s improving and it was a good performance today, he beat some nice horses there.”

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