Miss Childrey cashes in

Report from Naas: Miss Childrey justified the faith of her trainer, Frank Ennis, and gained the Curragh trainer the most valuable success of his career at Naas yesterday.

The €52,000 first prize for the Swordlestown Stud Sprint Stakes eclipsed the pot Mahsusie won in the Marble Hill Stakes two years ago and continued Ennis's remarkable record with two-year-olds.

Miss Childrey is one of only five juveniles the former starting-stalls attendant trains but she was never headed in picking up Europe's richest listed race for fillies.

"This is by far the biggest I've won and she has proved she's good enough to go to Ascot now," Ennis said.

"The owner (Alison Jones) had a half share in Mahsusie too and would love to go to Ascot. There's a new six-furlong race for fillies there so that's where we will probably go," he added.

The other listed contest, the Naas Sprint, turned into a rout by the two English-trained raiders, with Miss Anabaa a length too good for Dragon Flyer.

It was a first success in Ireland for the Newmarket trainer Rae Guest, whose two previous runners here yielded placings in the Irish 1,000 Guineas and the Tatersalls Sales race.

"We've always taken home some money," said Guest. "The main thing today was to get some black type because she is out of a half sister to Owington."

Miss Anabaa certainly got that as she pounced late on her compatriot, who had tried to make all. The favourite, Danaskaya, didn't get the clearest of runs but faded disappointingly to fifth.

The English winner completed a double for Alamshar's Derby jockey, John Murtagh, who had earlier got Beauty Contest home by a head in the fillies' maiden.

"She is a tough little filly who will go for a handicap next. There are no lofty ambitions for her," said trainer John Oxx.

Murtagh will try for a third Derby in four years aboard Alamshar and said yesterday that stamina is his only major worry.

"He is by Key Of Luck but the dam stayed well. And he relaxes so well he gives himself every chance of staying. They have to have everything at Epsom. Speed, stamina and most of all they have to have the attitude and the constitution for such a big day, because it is huge," he said.

Murtagh's bid for a treble on Hanabad in the last failed by a short head as Dolmur battled on to give Miss Childrey's rider, Seamus Heffernan, his own double.