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Michael Graham

Michael Graham

Friendly makes her backers smile

Fri 2nd Jul 2021, 17:59

Friendly and Wayne Lordan in charge Friendly and Wayne Lordan in charge
© Photo Healy Racing

Friendly rewarded those who played the 4/7 on the favourite with a clear-cut victory in the fillies' and mares' maiden in Bellewstown.

She soon tracked Golden Lyric over this extended mile trip and breezed past that rival at the two pole.

The Galileo filly was pushed clear by Wayne Lordan inside the final furlong and scooted home by a comfortable three and a half lengths. Give Her A Squeeze took the runner-up berth at 18/1 and was a length and a half up on third-placed Golden Lyric (9/2).

Lordan said: “It was nice to get a bracket for her as she’s a very well-bred filly. It’s nice to get that maiden win under her belt.

“She had very good runs so it was a matter of just getting everything right. She’s a very light-moving filly and she wouldn’t mind tracks like this. She’d wing around them.”

Friendly got off the mark at the 10th time of asking. She was beaten just over three lengths into sixth in the Irish 1,000 Guineas at the Curragh in May. She won today with a rating of 101.

Aidan O'Brien 's charge holds a Group One, Group 2 and a Group 3 entry in Ireland.

Additional reporting by Alan Magee

About Michael Graham
Michael has worked in horse racing journalism for more than 15 years, having also written a weekly betting column on Gaelic football and hurling for a newspaper. He is involved in writing the My Racing Story features on this website. He spent a year in South Africa completing a Diploma in Business Administration and also studied Newspaper Journalism in Belfast. He enjoys playing 5-a-side football on a regular basis.