Mollie The Moo hits the front under Colin Keane © Photo Healy Racing
Ger Lyons' Mollie The Moo finished with a real flourish to cut down the opposition in the fillies' maiden at Limerick.
Colin Keane held her up in rear of mid-division before she started to inch closer with a quarter of a mile to travel.
She closed up on the leaders at the furlong pole and was ridden to unleash her challenge between horses in the final 100 yards. She kept on best to score by half a length at 8/1. Dandys Gold (14/1) and Smoulder (9/2) occupied the places, a head apart. Puppetshow the very heavily backed 6/4 favourite was a neck away in fourth.
Assistant trainer Shane Lyons said: "I'm delighted with that. Like a couple of ours, they have been going to the races a little bit fresh and she wears a hood for a reason and her first race she had a stage-fright. She made the running with another horse on her girths and didn't get home on that ground (heavy).
"It suited going quick today and basically she has done what we thought she'd do from her homework.
"She doesn't want heavy or quick ground but the ground is proper good ground today. I'm delighted for Tony and Roger O'Callaghan as they are great supporters of the yard and everything they send our way, seems to work.
"She'll look for black type next - it's very important for these fillies."
Colin Keane added: "She's hard enough work at home, she rides out in a hood most days. We said we would give her the benefit of the doubt the first day and leave it off her but it just makes that bit of a difference to her to settle and that. Back on her today and she gave me a lovely run round and picked up well when I needed her to.
"I followed Seamie (Heffernan, on Puppetshow) the whole way around. He was travelling well, he went down the inner and I came out and then a split came between them so it's all worked out.
"Off that run she will get another furlong no bother. Hopefully try and get a bit of black type for her with a bit of luck."
On the cracking start to the season made by the Lyons' horses he said: "A lot of them usually take their first run but for some reason a lot of them this year are sparking on their first run and they'll only improve from their first run so it's going good."
This gave Keane a double on the card and five winners in two days after a treble in Dundalk last night.
It was Lyons' third winner in a couple of days as he had two on the polytrack yesterday.
Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes
