'She had been running well all season' - consistency rewarded as Lumiere Rock lands Blandford Stakes

Lumiere Rock's consistency was rewarded as she earned a first success this season in the Moyglare 'Jewels' Blandford Stakes.

The daughter of Saxon Warrior was cut to 14-1 (from 25) by Paddy Power for the British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes at Ascot after running away with the Group 2 under Dylan Browne McMonagle.

Trainer Joseph O'Brien fitted the three-year-old with first-time cheekpieces, and they certainly contributed to a convincing success here. McMonagle went for his race shortly after they turned in, and Lumiere Rock just galloped further clear.

O'Brien said: "She had been running well in really good company all season. She was just beaten at Ascot, just beaten in France last time and she really deserved to win that. 

"She looks like a filly that will hold her own in Group 1 company as she gets older. We'll see how she pulls out and she will tell us which way we go. The obvious targets are the Prix de l'Opera at Longchamp on Arc day and the Fillies & Mares Stakes at Ascot.

"She's an exciting filly. I thought in France the last day she just waited a little bit in front. I think she was much sharper today and the cheekpieces certainly helped her."

Native scalps rivals

Cross-channel raiders did quite well over the weekend, and took home a very valuable prize when the Richard Fahey-trained Native American readily landed the Tattersalls Ireland Super Auction Sale contest under Colin Keane.

The Sioux Nation colt was the only previous winner in a race where few of his rivals look capable of winning a maiden. He did not take long to pick up and he went nicely clear to score by two and a half lengths from Mercian Warrior, who was representing last year's winning trainer Eve Johnson Houghton.

Keane said: "He'll keep improving with racing and time. He took me there nicely but I would say he's just bone idle in front. The ground was as slow as he would like it. He could be a stakes horse in time."

A special winner for Keane came in the concluding 'Northfields' Handicap, which he won on Crystal Black for his father Gerry.

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