Backers of 1-5 favourite Freud got their fingers badly burnt when Aidan O'Brien's charge failed to come up to expectations in the EBF Maiden at the Curragh today.
Backed from 1-3, the brother to Giant's Causeway was beaten half a length by Blixen on ground that had eased to yielding, good to yielding on the stands' side of the six-furlong course, following overnight rain.
The going change did not unduly worry Blixen's trainer John Oxx who is responsible for tomorrow's Budweiser Irish Derby favourite Sinndar.
"The ground is a bit like it was at Epsom now but we don't want it to go heavy," Oxx said.
"Sinndar is fairly immune to ground conditions, though the forecast is a bit of a worry because there are heavy showers possible overnight."
Johnny Murtagh, who rides the Vodafone Derby hero, got first run aboard Blixen and that proved crucial off an indifferent pace as the favourite could not reel in the filly.
"She knew more than I thought," Oxx added.
"Normally you would want a horse well prepared to beat a good colt from Ballydoyle, but Blixen has always been mentally mature and we might run her back here in a fortnight in the Anglesey Stakes."
