Follow Me by Ross O'Sullivan had an excellent beginning to life in Ireland when landing the Treacy Group Irish EBF Maiden at Curragh.
Before changing hands, the three-year-old was in the frame multiple times during the previous season in France, but he drifted out to 22-1 to score for new connections at the first attempt.
Despite those odds, he put up a fierce fight near home and won the race by half a length under Shane Foley.
“I couldn’t believe he was drifting (in the betting) and was getting nervous had we got it wrong,” said O’Sullivan. “Shane Foley has ridden him in work for the last six weeks and thought a lot of him. Tom Malone bought him at a sale in France for Amanda (Torrens, owner). She put an order in for him to find a nice horse and fair play he took his time and this horse popped up. As soon as he came off the box I liked him. He has size and scope. He had good form in France as a two-year-old but looked like a three-year-old. He’s a tall horse with a good temperament. He was declared for the meeting here that was called off and then we were thinking of running him in Dundalk, but we said we’d sit and wait for the Curragh. He had form over six, seven and a mile but showed plenty of pace in his work. Hopefully, he can take us to the big days and we can have a nice summer with him. We’ll have to sit down now and make a plan.”
Under Wayne Hassett, Denis Cullen's Zephron won the PG Duffy & Sons Citroen Handicap by a half-length.
With a 13-2 lead, the gelding performed exceptionally well on the soft to heavy ground, adding a fifth career victory to his record.
“It looked like they went pretty hard early, and Wayne said he got squeezed back a bit but was happy to take his time,” said Cullen. “He likes the Curragh and handles that ground well. He had a nice run in Naas which brought him on a lot and he seemed in good form today. He has form on most types of ground but handles that better than most horses. We’ll see what way the weather goes, and he could end up back in Galway for something. He got touched off there a few years ago.”