Preseli steals the show for Grassick

Fasliyev's Prix Morny success may have been Aidan O'Brien's priority yesterday, but he had an unexpected reverse at Leopardstown when the 1 to 4 favourite Amethyst was run out of the Debutante Stakes by Preseli.

When Desert Sky was taken out of the race after not eating up in the morning, the Listed race was expected to be something of a stroll for the full sister to King Of Kings.

For much of seven furlongs, it looked just that as Amethyst appeared to be leading comfortably at a good pace. Dance Of Love and Preseli were hard at work in the straight as Seamus Heffernan gently asked the favourite to quicken.

The response was negligible, however, and in the last 100 yards Preseli stayed on much the better to win by three parts of a length.

"Pace was a worry in a six-horse race, but they went a proper gallop and this filly does stay. Maybe it was a little too far for the favourite," said Preseli's trainer Michael Grassick.

"We'll have a look at the Moyglares, but if she doesn't recover in time, she'll go in the CL Weld Park Stakes. All she will do is improve," added Grassick.

The Ballycullen Stakes went to the Mark Johnston-trained favourite Royal Rebel, who looked in trouble a full half mile out but galloped on remorselessly to beat Try For Ever by a couple of lengths.

John Murtagh was hard at work before leaving the back stretch, but Royal Rebel overhauled General Cloney on the turn in and was never seriously challenged afterwards.

Johnston was on duty in Sweden, but the colt's owner, the British Horseracing Board chairman Peter Savill, said: "His family are all sprinters but this horse is just a galloper. I told Mark after his last race that he should have a crack over a distance.

"He will run next in a Group 3 at Taby (Sweden) on September 12th as he is a great traveller, and we are also running Proud Native on the same day."

On a good GAA day for Cork, the county's jockeys also did well with the first two races falling to Innishannon apprentice Wayne Lordan and Buttevant-born Colm O'Donoghue.

The latter, riding his 20th winner, made all on the O'Brien-trained Ostrovsky in the Glenalua Maiden, beating the well backed Poco A Poco, who made her challenge on the outside, by a length.

Eddie Lynam, however, had earlier scored with Robzelda in the apprentice race and said of Lordan: "He can certainly ride and I'll be using him again."

Pat Smullen and Dermot Weld agreed Leave Me Alone was the best of the Weld-trained runners in the Strathmore Handicap, but it was the 12 to 1 Landing Slot who took the race by a short head under Pat Shanahan.

He then survived a stewards inquiry after the officials decided that the winner had caused slight interference to the runner-up, Sarraaf, but not enough to improve his placing.

There was one lucky winner of the jackpot and the punter scooped £11,315.

Top apprentice, Declan McDonogh, received two suspensions totalling six days at Leopardstown yesterday. He received four days for using his whip with excessive force and frequency on Royal South in the third race and later picked up another couple of days when judged to have ridden carelessly on Aliwaiyn.