Seventh Heaven leads home Found to give Aidan O’Brien Yorkshire Oaks one-two

Colm O’Donoghue guides 100-30 shot to convincing win over stablemate and favourite

Seventh Heaven led home stable companion Found to provide Aidan O'Brien with a one-two in the Darley Yorkshire Oaks.

Last year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf heroine Found was the marginal favourite at 2-1, bidding to get back on the winning trail after a hat-trick of runner-up finishes at Group One level against the boys.

Seventh Heaven was sent off at 100-30 in the hands of Colm O’Donoghue as she aimed to prove last month’s surprise victory in the Irish Oaks was no fluke.

O’Brien fielded four runners in all and it was the least fancied of the quartet Pretty Perfect who took the field along for much of the mile-and-a-half journey.

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As she began to falter halfway up the home straight, the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Queen’s Trust moved smoothly towards the front, but the Ballydoyle big guns were waiting in the wings.

Seventh Heaven showed the best turn of foot to grab the lead and galloped all the way to the line to score by two and three-quarter lengths.

Found had to make do with second spot once again, with Queen’s Trust a long way clear of the rest in third.

O’Donoghue said: “These are Ryan’s (Moore) rides, hopefully we’re looking after them for him and he’s getting back soon.

“She’s a very good filly. She was obviously a Classic winner coming here and was getting the weight allowance from some older fillies, so we made use of it.

“She’s tough and genuine and has a great temperament and a beautiful action.

“This is what we all work every year for. It’s nice to get the opportunity and to take it.”

O’Brien was delighted with the performances of both the winner and the second.

He said: “We were delighted with Seventh Heaven at home and Colm gave her a beautiful ride.

“She came forward lovely from the Curragh and we thought the track and ground and trip would suit her well.

“The lads will decide what they want to do, but she’s a lot of options.

“She’s a beautiful traveller and is a massive, rangy filly that handles fast ground very well.

“She has plenty of class and has the option of all those fillies races and there’s the option of the Filly & Mare Turf in America (Breeders’ Cup)) at the end of the year.

“I’d say she’s going to make a real four-year-old, because she’s big and rangy.”

Of Found, the trainer added: “She was just ready to start, but she’d an awful lot of class and we knew that. She got a little bit tired and Seamus (Heffernan) looked after her.

“The plan was to go to the Curragh (Royal Whip Stakes on Sunday) and then maybe go to Leopardstown (Irish Champion Stakes) and then maybe go to France for the Arc.

“We came out a bit earlier as we were going to leave US Army Ranger running by himself at the Curragh. Nothing might change from the plan.

“The lads will see the horses run at the weekend and the pattern should become apparent after that.”

Earlier red-hot favourite Fair Eva could only finish third as Queen Kindly claimed victory in the Sky Bet Lowther Stakes .

The Roger Charlton-trained Fair Eva had looked every inch a top-class prospect on her racecourse debut at Haydock and after following up with another impressive display in the Princess Margaret Stakes at Ascot, the daughter of Frankel was a prohibitively priced 4-11 market leader in this Group Two contest.

Queen Kindly — another daughter of the mighty Frankel and out of 2009 Lowther-winning mare Lady Of The Desert — had won two of her three previous starts for Richard Fahey, both at Catterick, and was a creditable third in the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot in between.

Pat Smullen settled Fair Eva at the rear of the field for much of the six-furlong journey, with Jamie Spencer similarly patient aboard 9-2 chance Queen Kindly.

Fair Eva came with her effort on the wide outside, while Queen Kindly had to be brave go between horses to mount her challenge.

O’Brien’s Duchess of Cambridge Stakes winner Roly Poly was also in with a chance as the big trio headed inside the final furlong almost in a line, but it was Queen Kindly who saw it out best to beat the Irish raider by three-quarters of a length, with Fair Eva the same distance away in third.