3 minute read
Forest Fairy narrowly got the better of Port Fairy to land the Listed Cheshire Oaks for trainer Ralph Beckett and jockey Rossa Ryan.
The Ralph Beckett-trained filly made a striking winning debut on the all-weather at Wolverhampton in February and connections wasted no time in stepping her up in grade.
The tempo looked a reasonable one throughout with Seaward and Port Fairy both pressing the pace, but Rossa Ryan was always keen not to lead the leading duo out of his sights back in the box position.
Ryan Moore found himself pushing along Port Fairy with four furlongs to run, but to her credit, the daughter of Australia kept on finding and picked up the running as the field entered the final furlong.
However, she soon had company as Forest Fairy, who had to wait for a gap as the pace quickened, joined in on the action before showing a willing attitude to get the better of Port Fairy by a head in the closing stages.
There was a further length and a quarter back to the front-running Seaward in third, with the 7/4 market leader Galileo Dame only able to run on at the one pace back in fourth.
"We went an okay gallop; they steadied up down the back and we got racing three (furlongs) out," explained the winning rider Rossa Ryan.
"She's still showed a lot of signs of inexperience when I had to come out from behind and be a bit aggressive on her, but you can't be but impressed by the way she got out and had a look around and still when the job needed to be done, she stuck her head down and galloped right out to the line.
"I'll leave it up to Ralph and the team to decide where she goes next, but I would imagine that when she gets on softer going conditions, she'll be a lot better again – and I'd imagine with racing, she'll get better.
"She got away with the ground today, it's probably on the slow side of good and I don't think she'd want it any quicker than that.
"She did everything I asked of her and more and answered more questions than I thought she would. We shall see what the future holds, but she's an exciting filly for sure and she's one that should get better with time and with age."
