Aintree beckons for Lily Du Berlais

Lily Du Berlais maintained her unbeaten record when landing a 40-1 surprise in the Grade Two Coolmore NH Sires Santiago Irish EBF Mares INH Flat Race and Liverpool is now on the agenda.

The Simon Munir and Isaac Souede-owned six-year-old, who got up to win by a nose in a blanket finish for trainer Stuart Crawford and his amateur jockey brother Ben, may now head to Aintree for the Grade 2 mares’ bumper at the Grand National meeting in April.

Anthony Bromley, racing manager for the owners, said: “We were thrilled for the Crawford family to get a winner on a big stage like the Dublin Festival.

“It was a great piece of training and a great riding performance, because she is not a straightforward mare — she has two ways of going: steady and flat-out. The whole plan was to sit last, have her switched off and come with one, sustained run.

“The gaps opened for Ben quite well and it did get a bit tight, but she battled hard and finished with a bit of a flourish. I think her momentum got her home.

“She was a couple of lengths down with 100 yards to go. It did not feel as close as the photograph showed, but the nods of the head meant it was exceptionally close and there was very little in it. I’m sure if you ran the race 10 times again, you’d get different results.”

Bromley added: “But at the end of the day she is the mare who has now won a Grade Two and there were a lot of unbeaten horses going into that race. It looks a deep renewal and she is the only one who has come out of it and stays unbeaten.

“She has come out of the race fine this morning and I would envisage we will try to get her to the mares’ bumper at Aintree. That would be the likely plan.”