Pictured: Eileen, ridden by David Egan (left), en route to victory in the Betfred May Hill Stakes at Doncaster.
Eileen came home strong to win the Betfred May Hill Stakes at Doncaster and continue Carl Burke's dream season with his youngsters.
Third in the Prestige Stakes at Goodwood last month, Eileen (5/1) still had plenty to do as the field entered the final quarter mile of the Group Two one-mile contest.
However, her stamina soon showed and once David Egan asked his mount to give it his all, she overtook Andrew Balding's Pacific Mission (second) and Aidan O'Brien's Sugar Island (third) to take first place.
Undefeated Venetian Sun has been riding for coach Spigot Lodge this term but can now add Eileen to the team for next year's Classics after she joins some of the coach's most famous alumni Lawrence (2017) and Darnation (2023) on May Hill's honour roll.
Burke said: “She's done well and we always thought she would stay, but there's a difference between being in lesser company and being in this company and she's proven she's worthy of the level of this group race.”
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“She came to us with a great reputation. Kia (Jourabchian) owns half of her shares along with the Al Shaqab Racing team and he was very happy to have her come to us, so I'm happy for everyone.”
“She was in great shape today so I don't think there's much to improve her fitness. The question now is whether she can keep that up for another month and whether we can run her in a Group One race – either the Fillies' Mile or the Prix Marcel Boussac,” Burke added.
“She competed in both competitions and she certainly deserves to perform in this show, but you want to go in there confident that she was in as good shape as she is today.”
Connections were delighted with the performance of runner-up Pacific Mission, who faced a sharp move up in class after opening her account in the all-weather race at Kempton.
Balding's wife, Anna-Lisa, said: “She's a wonderful filly, it was a step up in class and she did brilliantly.”
“I thought Colin (Keane) gave her a wonderful ride, we were beaten by a good horse that day and I think she's going to have an exciting three-year career.”
“She showed us what we were really hoping to see today. We'll see how she handles it and what Andrew says about her continuing involvement, but we may just put it off until next year.”
The disappointment of the race was undoubtedly Sir Mark Prescott's Moon Target, who had led Eileen by one place at Goodwood and was the 11/10 favourite to return to winning ways. However, the distress signals were obvious from a distance away and she could only finish seventh of the eight starters.
Sourse: skysports.com
