'We're looking outside the box' - 64-rated filly in line for March Stakes raid

Poor field sizes in Britain have tempted small-scale trainer John O'Neill to send 64-rated maiden Pink Fire Lilly from County Clare to tackle a Group 3 at Goodwood on Saturday.

O'Neill's boldness in making the entry has been rewarded with only four declared for the £100,000 William Hill March Stakes (3.00).

Should any of three opponents rated 20-52lb higher be withdrawn or fail to fire, it will have proved an inspired decision by the team behind the 200-1 outsider as she would automatically earn black type by simply completing the course.

The three-year-old has been beaten an average of 18 lengths across her seven starts but will line up alongside hot favourite and Derby runner-up Hoo Ya Mal.

She will be become only the third runner in Britain for O'Neill, who has had only 20 runners in Ireland this year.

The €1,000 yearling buy will earn £5,360 for finishing fourth of the four runners.

Pink Fire Lilly posted a career-best this time last year when finishing sixth of seven and beaten 11 lengths by Irish Oaks winner Magical Lagoon in the Group 3 Flame Of Tara Stakes.

"She's in good form and we're hoping for the best," said O'Neill. "She ran all right last year before just losing her way a bit, but she seems to be in good form again."

'We're just a small operation'

On how an unlikely tilt at Saturday's prize came about, O'Neill said: "We saw that there had been some small fields in England and we were just trying to look outside the box a little bit.

"We're just a small operation with myself and my son Paul. We only have a couple for the track and a couple of point-to-pointers."

He added: "We previously had King Johns Castle before he changed stables and finished second in the [2008] Grand National, as well as Royale Knight, who finished sixth at Aintree [in 2015]. It's a small scale thing."

Tullyhogue Fort's win at Galway last September for O'Neill was the stable's first success under rules since King Johns Castle won a bumper at Gowran in September 2004, although O'Neill was responsible for four point-to-point winners in the 2011-12 campaign.

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