By Tom Frary
Absent since winning the G3 Kilternan S. over 12 furlongs on Leopardstown's Champions Day, His Highness The Aga Khan's Eziyra (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) just carried on where she had left off when taking the G3 GRENKE Finance Ballyroan S. over the same course and distance on Thursday. Held up in rear early by Declan McDonogh, the 9-4 joint-favourite was delivered to take control with a furlong remaining and readily asserted for a comfortable 2 1/2-length defeat of Stellar Mass (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}). “I got a great feel off her the whole way and she's a very fluent mover, a quality filly,” her rider said of the homebred, who is in the mix for the Aug. 23 G1 Yorkshire Oaks.
Eziyra showed class from the outset, beating Hydrangea (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in a Galway maiden in July 2016 before finishing runner-up in the G3 Flame of Tara S. over a mile at The Curragh the following month. Successful in the seven-furlong G3 C.L. & M.F. Weld Park S. back at the latter venue in September, the chestnut was second in the Listed King George V Cup also over this course and distance last June before running third in the G1 Irish Oaks back in Kildare in July. Taking Cork's G3 Give Thanks S. also over this trip in August, she is held in high regard by the ultra-patient Dermot Weld who said, “I think she was very impressive there and is a very talented filly who will run in group 1s for the rest of the campaign,” he commented. “It was always the plan to wait for the second half of the year with her. The [G1 Qipco British Champions] Fillies and Mares [at Ascot Oct. 20] would be a possibility and the Breeders' Cup.”
Eziyra's listed-placed dam Eytarna (Ire) (Dubai Destination) was also responsible for the Listed Platinum S. winner Eshera (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}) and has a yearling filly by Siyouni (Fr) and a filly foal by Gleneagles (Ire) to come. She is a half-sister to the G1 Ascot Gold Cup-winning duo Estimate (Ire) (Monsun {Ger})–whose first foal ran earlier in the evening at Sandown–and Enzeli (Ire) (Kahyasi {Ire}) and also the G1 Irish Oaks and G1 Prix Royal-Oak heroine Ebadiyla (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) and G1 Moyglare Stud S. scorer Edabiya (Ire) (Rainbow Quest). This is also the family of the G2 Prix de Royallieu winner Ebiyza (Ire) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}) and the G1 Epsom Oaks and G1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth S. heroine Taghrooda (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}).
Thursday, Leopardstown, Ireland
GRENKE FINANCE BALLYROAN S.-G3, €63,000, Leopardstown, 8-9, 3yo/up, 12fT, 2:37.18, g/f.
1–EZIYRA (IRE), 131, f, 4, by Teofilo (Ire)
1st Dam: Eytarna (Ire) (SP-Ire), by Dubai Destination
2nd Dam: Ebaziya (Ire), by Darshaan (GB)
3rd Dam: Ezana (Ire), by Ela-Mana-Mou (Ire)
O-H H The Aga Khan; B-H H The Aga Khan's Studs SC (IRE); T-Dermot Weld; J-Declan McDonogh. €37,170. Lifetime Record: G1SP-Ire, 9-5-3-1, $293,125. *1/2 to Eshera (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}), SW-Ire. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Stellar Mass (Ire), 134, h, 5, Sea the Stars (Ire)–Juno Marlowe (Ire), by Danehill. (280,000gns Wlg '13 TATFOA). O-Mrs June Judd; B-Tinnakill House & Alan Byrne (IRE); T-Jim Bolger. €11,970.
3–Yucatan (Ire), 137, c, 4, Galileo (Ire)–Six Perfections (Fr), by Celtic Swing (GB). O-Flaxman Stables Ireland Ltd & Mrs John Magnier & Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith; B-Niarchos Family (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. €5,670.
Margins: 2HF, NO, HD. Odds: 2.25, 2.25, 2.75.
Also Ran: The King (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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