Horses To Follow » Aneen

Aneen

Aneen did well to finish fourth in the fillies’ maiden that opened proceedings on Irish Champions’ Weekend at Leopardstown last Saturday. Held up in rear through the early stages of the race, Kevin Prendergast’s filly made nice ground through traffic for Chris Hayes along the far rail in the home straight to take fourth place close home, just 2l behind the winner Rain Goddess.

This was a race in which it was probably an advantage to race handily. The first three home were all prominent from early, the runner-up raced in a clear lead from early, and it was difficult for the hold-up fillies to get into it, so Aneen can probably be marked up a fair bit on the bare form of this run. Also, this was her racecourse debut, so there is probably natural progression forthcoming.

A half-sister to this year’s Irish 2000 Guineas winner Awtaad – who won the Group 2 Boomerang Stakes on Saturday – she is not low-profile, but this was a fine performance, and she should be able to build on it. She should win her maiden now without too much fuss before going on to bigger things. She is exciting.

10th September 2016