No joy for Irish in Cheshire Oaks Banoffee (9/1) swooped late under Kieren Fallon to win the Weatherbys Bank Cheshire Oaks at Chester on Wednesday. The Hughie Morrison-trained filly took the inside route under Fallon and left it late before getting up to beat Gertrude Versed (12/1), who raced prominently and went for home early, by one-and-a-quarter lengths. The runner-up was tired in the last furlong and just held on for second by a nose from Jathaba (50/1). Dermot Weld's favourite, Salhooda, was struggling from a long way out and never looked like landing a blow. Fallon said: ''The way she quickened, off a fast gallop, she has to be really smart.'' Asked whether she could be a candidate for the Investec Oaks at Epsom, for which she would have to be supplemented, Fallon said: ''For sure.'' Morrison said: "I think we have to consider supplementing her for the Oaks. "I was embarrassed I didn't put her in the race back in March, but she wasn't showing me anything like this. "She was actually coughing at the beginning of March, so it would have been a brave shout to spend the money, but I think we will go home and discuss it. "If she is in good form she will probably go there. "She has just surprised me. We obviously didn't fancy her at Newbury (she won at 28/1). "She has never worked on the grass properly because it has been so wintry this year and she is such a natural athlete."
