New Zealand leads home Aidan O'Brien 1-2-3 New Zealand led home a 1-2-3 for Aidan O'Brien in the opener at the Curragh, the Juddmonte Chaldean Irish EBF (C & G) Maiden. Out of 2017 Albany winner Different League and seventh on debut over the course and distance last month, the successful son of Frankel was well-fancied this afternoon and returned the 10/11 favourite (from 15/8 early). Briefly pushed along from the stalls and soon making his way to the front, the bay victor was ridden with a furlong-and-a-half to go and kept finding for pressure. Strongly pressed in the closing stages by newcomer Isaac Newton (11/1), he just held off that rival by a nose, with fellow debutant Action (13/2) half-a-length away in a closing third. "He's a lovely big horse, he hasn't a clue what he's doing yet," said O'Brien. "He's massive, the power and the size of him. "We'll go gentle and let him come on. He learned a lot from the first day, we liked him before that and he was very green. "The first day he was a little bit slow away and you could see him today, he never travelled a yard. "He's a big horse and he's all power. I know he's not short of speed but he looks like a big middle-distance horse. He's a brave divil too." Additional reporting by Gary Carson
