Lelia Byrne registers first winner at home track The well touted Is She Real accounted for her 11 rivals in facile fashion in the concluding Tote.ie (Ladies Pro/Am) Flat Race for owner Derek Kierens at Bellewstown this evening. The daughter of Yeats finished second on debut between the flags and she built on that effort today when positioned close to the pace in the early stages. John McConnell's 5/2 shot showed real gears over two furlongs out to hit the front and she went on with ease to give Lelia Byrne her first success. John McConnell said: "It does (put the seal on two good days in Bellewstown) and we expected it. "She has just progressed. Colin Motherway is a great person to buy off because there is something left in the horses. A lot of these point-to-pointers, maybe they don't go on but with Colin you are always going to get a horse that goes on. We have had a lot of luck buying off him. "He was very sweet on this filly, but she was still raw. She's progressing all the time - every bit of work she has done, she has got better and better and better. She worked with some of the winners recently and worked really well. "She's fit, but there is definitely going to be improvement in her. "The filly is exciting, I'm delighted with that. "She's only four, I might put her away and maybe go for the Listed fillies' bumper at Cheltenham in November. I think she is entitled to go. I'm not going to go hurdling with her until next year. "She's big and she is going to get better, I really like her. "Lelia has been in the yard a good while and to get a winner at her home track is a big thing for her. "She left us for a little while and came back. Ben Harvey is her other half and that's the connection. They are local people from Ratoath direction.” Additional reporting by Michael Graham
