Purple Lily

Purple Lily was impressive in winning the one-mile conditions race at Naas on Sunday. She raced in third place early on behind a good pace that Portland set, and she picked up well when Billy Lee asked her to, hitting the front at the furlong pole and staying on well up the hill to win nicely, with the two colts, the 108-rated Portland and the maiden winner Chicago Critic chasing her home.

Paddy Twomey’s filly did well to win the two-year-olds’ fillies’ maiden at the Galway Festival last August in a race in which not much went right for her. She ran green and she was last early on, but she showed a really willing attitude to stay on up the hill that day to get up and win by a neck. This was her first run since then, it was just her second race, and she kept on well off a strong pace, clocking a faster overall time than the other one-mile race run on the day, Wendla’s race, and clocking faster closing sectionals than every other race run on the day, four of them run over seven furlongs. Her trainer mentioned the Irish Guineas as a possible target now, and she could be a big player in the fillies’ Classic if she lines up in it.
Naas, 24^th March 2024