City Of Dubai shines brightest in the Killarney sun At odds of 8/1, the Paddy Twomey-trained City Of Dubai made a winning debut under Billy Lee in the opening Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden at Killarney this evening. All the pre-race attention was on Aidan O'Brien’s Oklahoma after his first run behind early Epsom Derby favourite Giant Sequoia at the Curragh. Sent off the 30/100 favourite, he tried to make all the running but was headed by City Of Dubai well before the furlong-pole. In the end, Oklahoma faded into third place as the Ger Lyons-trained Francillon, another 8/1 chance, came through late on for the runner-up spot, half a length behind the winner. Twomey commented: “He’s a nice horse. He’s a horse that we’ve had a lot of regard for all year and he just came here ready to run. “I thought if he did things right, he could do what he did and if it went wrong, he could finish fourth, that’s exactly what I told the owners this morning. “There is a good history in the race and if we can be half as good as some of the previous winners, I’d be happy. “His mother is by Galileo and he’s by Mehmas, I think he’ll get a mile-and-a-quarter as a three-year-old. “He’s a big scopey horse with a staying pedigree. Today was a start and I’d like to take another step, if we can, before I get into anything. “I think he’s very much a three-year-old so we’ll see how we go.” Additional reporting by Gary Carson
