Blinkered Ballydoyle debutant lands Galway opener The Irish Stallion Farms EBF (Fillies) Maiden was the opener on student race day at Galway and it went to blinkered newcomer Classiest (7/1) under Declan McDonogh. The daughter of Wootton Bassett, trained for the Coolmore partners by Aidan O'Brien, tracked the pace which was set by her stablemate and odds-on favourite Ventosa. Ridden in third two furlongs out, the winner picked up well to lead inside the final 150 yards and pulled three and three-quarter lengths clear of Flawless Fusion with the market leader fading into third. It was 2006 champion jockey McDonogh's first winner for Ballydoyle this season. Stable representative Chris Armstrong said: "She had been going nicely at home and just had to wait in line to fit in with the rest of them to start. "Declan gave her a lovely ride and she showed an impressive turn of foot. Once he got her balanced and asked her to stretch, she really hit the line well. "Doing that on heavy ground on debut around Galway was impressive and she'll go on better ground. She'll be one to start in a trial in the spring. "She is very genuine but is a little lazy at home, so we wanted to get her out and see where she fitted in. We felt the blinkers would bring her along, which they did, and to do that like she did today was good." Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes
