Blanc De Blanc survives enquiry to make winning debut Donagh O'Connor rode a winner for Amo Racing as the Robson Aguiar-trained Blanc De Blanc survived a stewards' enquiry to land the View Restaurant At Dundalk Stadium Fillies Maiden. Having been slowly away, O'Connor soon had the debutant close to the pace, taking over in front after a couple of furlongs. Travelling strongly into the straight, the 9/4 chance hung right over a furlong out, as her lack of previous experience took its toll. Market leader Astronomically closed over a furlong out and was momentarily short of room as the leader veered off a true line. However, despite running green, Blanc De Blanc kept on well under O'Connor to prevail by a neck. Following a subsequent stewards' enquiry, the placing remained unaltered. AMO Racing representative Ryan McElligott said: "Lovely filly, smashing pedigree. You can see by the size of her, a lovely big filly. "She got given plenty of time and we think she will have no trouble stepping up in trip, 10 furlongs will be no problem to her. "She wasn't as alertly away as some of the others, but then she got into her stride and did it the hard way, got a bit lonely in front. Found more when the other filly was coming at her. Nice filly. "Might come back here for a conditions race towards the end of February, 40 grand over a mile. That might be the slot for her." When asked if she could be one for a Guineas Trial, he replied: "I suppose we will see how she is progressing. She has those early-closing entries because she was showing the team nice potential last year. "We'll take it baby steps for the moment. "With the pedigree she has, the sire (Not This Time) she is by, you would be hoping she could maybe step into that grade and she should improve plenty from here. "Hopefully, she should sharpen up from that. We would be quite happy at a mile for the time being. "Donagh liked her and was complimentary, he said you could upgrade that form. He felt that there was plenty more there, so everyone is happy." Additional reporting by Michael Graham.
