Lightning strikes late under Ryan to down maiden rivals The Donnacha O'Brien trained Sound Of Lightning stayed on strongly under Gavin Ryan to win the Twydil/Clovelly Irish EBF Fillies Maiden at Naas. A promising third at the Curragh on her racecourse debut at the beginning of the season, the Fastnet Rock filly failed to build on that effort when down the field at Navan last time. Tracking the leaders here from stalls, the 13/2 chance travelled nicely in fourth as the race began in earnest over two-furlongs from home. Switched to the outside, Ryan produced the eventual winner with a well timed run to head Indigo Dream over 50 yards out. The latter filly, who looked to have every chance inside the final furlong, weakened close home, to eventually finish fifth. “She had a very good run the first day and then she ran with the choke out for the first few furlongs in Navan and shut down then,” said O’Brien. “We said we’d come back in trip and get her to relax early and she did that. She relaxed well and finished off nicely. “It’s nice to get her back on track. Getting her to switch off and do things right was more important than the ground. “She’s a filly with a great pedigree so you’d love to get a bit of black-type with her. I think she’ll probably stay a mile-and-a-quarter if she does things right. “We’ll try and find a nice Listed race or something.” Additional reporting by Gary Carson.
