She's Our Queen and Ben Coen (left) beat Fictitious Lady © Photo Healy Racing
The two fillies who fought out the finish of the median auction maiden were representing trainers both looking for a double, and it was Johnny Murtagh’s She’s Our Queen who pulled out a bit more inside the final furlong to score from Fictitious Lady
Willie McCreery ’s charge went down by half a length, with Starlight Dream third and the 11/10 favourite Toora Loors fading to fourth having made the running.
Ben Coen was abord the winner, fifth and third in her first couple of starts this season over a mile having been unraced at two. She’s a homebred daughter of Toronado and a half-sister to two middle-distance winners at a modest level in Britain.
Winning trainer Johnny Murtagh said: "Improving all the time - as you can see she's a very big filly.
"I'm delighted for the owner (Hassan Alabdulmalik), it's his first winner for us - Debbie Mountain is the manager and she has done a great job with sending us over some nice horses.
"We won't do too much with this one this year because she is big and she is raw, and I think she will improve plenty. Whatever she does this year will be a bonus, I think she will be a real nice four-year-old when she develops up into the size because she is a big lady.
"That's one thing about our horses - when they get challenged they know how to get to the line. That's one thing we pride ourselves on. We have them fit, we run them over the right distances, and I knew she was going to finish the last 100 yards strong and thankfully she did. Ben Coen did a great job.
"I'm not sure this year, but maybe next year she could get a mile and a half. I think a mile and two is probably a good distance for her at the moment."
Additional reporting by Michael Graham
