Exciting Starspangledbanner Filly Ignites Ascot Dreams

The Queen Mary Stakes is under consideration for Sparkling Sea (2f Starspangledbanner – Titanium Sky, by Dark Angel) after the Moyglare Stud homebred made an impressive debut at Naas on Monday.

Colin Keane partnered the Ger Lyons-trained bay in the fillies maiden over six furlongs and raced prominently throughout. Switched right to challenge approaching the two furlong pole, she led a furlong later and was pushed out to win by two and a half lengths.

Speaking after the race, Colin Keane said, “ I'd say she's only going to get quicker with racing and I'd say you'll see a better filly on a nicer surface. She looks like a proper two-year-old, she's a good ball of a filly, and mentally she's very straightforward.”

“She was raw, all speed,” her trainer added. “She did what we thought she would do and let’s see how she comes out of it. She’s all speed and she will get quicker. At the minute we would be thinking Queen Mary-type filly.”

Starspangledbanner’s impressive first crop included Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes heroine Anthem Alexander, while Cheerupsleepyjean (Starspangledbanner) finished third in the Royal Ascot sprint in more recent years. A Group 1 winner at the royal meeting himself, Starspangledbanner sired his seventh individual Group 1 winner the previous day, when Beauty Eternal (Starspangledbanner) won the Champions Mile at Sha Tin.