UK Raider Sky Majesty lands Yeomanstown Stud Stakes UK raider Sky Majesty asserted close home under Tom Marquand to win the Listed Yeomanstown Stud Irish EBF Stakes (Fillies & Mares) at Naas. The William Haggas trained three-year-old, who was sent off a well backed 11/10f (from 2/1) was taking a drop in class having finished a respectable eighth in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot. Soon prominent under Marquand, the visitor took over in front from the Johnny Murtagh trained Greatest Drama two-furlongs out. Kicking on up the hill, Sky Majesty was soon joined by Carla Ridge, who ran a huge race for Eddie and Patrick Harty. The latter stuck to her task well but Sky Majesty found that bit extra close home to go on to score by three-quarters-of-a-length. Bellaphina stayed on well back in third to pick up black-type for trainer John Andrew Kinsella. It was Tom Marquand’s first visit to Naas and he said: “She’s a lovely filly. It was probably naive of me not to come before, we’ve sent a couple of alright ones over and the calendar has just meant that I’ve decided to stay at home, stupidly. “This filly was one that I wanted to chase over and she duly obliged. I thought she was strong through her last 100 and just enjoyed that extra bit of cut in the ground from what she’s been seeing this year. “We didn’t go overly hard early, I was expecting there to be a little more tempo with the fact that the track bias has been so strong. I thought there would be a race on for that. “We didn’t go overly strong so that probably didn’t suit her too well but the stiff finish and the nice slow ground just really helped bring out the best in her. “She’s obviously a filly that’s punched in a higher grade already, she’s a Group 2 winner and she ran very well in the Group 1 Commonwealth. “It’s nice to have her head back in front and hopefully it gets us back on the right trajectory. She’s a lovely filly and really looks like she’s come back to herself now.” Additional reporting by Gary Carson.
