'Hopefully she ends up at Royal Ascot' - Flicka's Girl sets up lofty targets with brilliant debut win

Flicka's Girl has the Lily Agnes at Chester on her agenda and ignited Royal Ascot hopes with a foot-perfect debut in the 5f maiden. 

The daughter of first-season sire Sergei Prokofiev cost only £32,000 as a yearling but has connections dreaming of some grander targets after she pulled four and three-quarter lengths clear of Bob The Bandit under Rossa Ryan.

"She's ticked every box from the day she came into the yard," said winning trainer David Loughnane. "We liked her a lot and she came highly recommended at the sales. She's been very straightforward and that's her first time off the bridle today, so I think we've got a lot to look forward to.

"She's small, well balanced and skipped around the bend today, so we'll look at the Lily Agnes as her owners are local to Chester. It's a race we like to target with our two-year-olds and she'd be a perfect candidate. Hopefully, she's good enough to end up at Royal Ascot – she's certainly got the right attributes."

On Ryan, who was completing a double after success in the opening 1m4f handicap on Hill Station, he added: "I've been using him since he was a 7lb claimer. He's getting harder and harder to get and it's only a matter of time before he takes a champion jockey title."

Tree triumphs

Another Loughnane, Billy, was off the mark in the 1m½f handicap as Rocking Tree justified 100-30 favouritism with an encouraging all-the-way win for George Boughey and Teme Valley. He is now unbeaten in two British starts having left Irish trainer Ger Lyons in March.

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