Wootton Bassett Juveniles Complete Quickfire Double

Wootton Bassett juveniles completed a quickfire double for Ballydoyle, Coolmore partners and Wayne Lordan in Saturday’s opening maidens at Gowran Park.

Island Hopping (2f Wootton Bassett – Heaven Of Heavens, by Galileo) was first to score in the fillies’ maiden over a mile, building on a promising debut at Newmarket last month.

The bay raced prominently throughout and was ridden approaching the two furlong pole. Switching left a furlong later, she ran on well close home to beat the favourite by a head on the line.

Speaking after the race, Lordan said, “She's a fine big filly to look at and you can imagine what she does this year will be a stepping stone to next year.”

The Coolmore homebred is the first foal out of Heaven Of Heavens, herself a full-sister to multiple Group 1 winners Magical (Galileo) and Rhododendron (Galileo).

The colt’s equivalent saw stablemate County Mayo (2c Wootton Bassett – Aspiring, by Galileo) run out a stylish winner from the well-backed Tribal Nation (Wootton Bassett).

Racing prominently, the bay was ridden when challenged two furlongs from home and stayed on well inside the final furlong to score by two lengths and three quarters.

“Coming here with a bit more experience I was able to jump and go forward,” Lordan later explained. “He got into a good big rhythm and he galloped all the way to the line. He's a fine big horse, he made a lovely step forward from his first run and hopefully he can do that again.”

Like Island Hopping, County Mayo is a Coolmore homebred out of a Galileo mare, this one being a half-sister to Danedream.