My Minervina (nearest) swoops late under Shane Foley © Photo Healy Racing
Owner Peter Savill was on hand to see My Minervina (11/2) win the Guinness Claiming Race under Shane Foley.
Fitted with cheekpieces for the first time, the four-year-old was ridden to chase the leaders over a furlong out. She responded well to Foley's urgings to hit the front close home in a blanket finish. The James McAuley pair, Helen De Pourtales and long-time leader Tai Sing Yeh were the placed horses with the winning margins being a head and half a length and Guessthebill short of room close home, was right on their tails in fourth.
The Jessica Harrington-trained winner had been runner-up in a course and distance maiden at two and was getting off the mark nine runs later.
Shane Foley said: "Yes, she did (have to work for it), she was a bit keen on the outside drawn in 17 and got a bit unbalanced up the straight, but she has grafted it out well.
"The first-time cheekpieces definitely helped."
Fifth home Talking Tough (in for 8k) was claimed by John Keogh to be trained by Shane Duffy, while James McAuley took home unplaced pair Eastern Racer (5k) and Aleksei Tolstoy (4k).
Additional reporting by Michael Graham
