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Amethyst Stakes: Pretreville lands Leopardstown Group Three as trainer Ado McGuinness works more magic

Pretreville (11/1) beat Ivy League and Patrick Sarsfield to win Group Three Amethyst Stakes at Leopardstown on Sunday; trainer Ado McGuinness considers Royal Ascot for winner; Fumata too good as Waterville is beaten again

Jockey Ronan Whelan with trainer Ado McGuinness (centre) and assistant Stephen Thorne
Image: Jockey Ronan Whelan with trainer Ado McGuinness (centre) and assistant Stephen Thorne

Pretreville provided trainer Ado McGuinness with another big-race victory in the Group Three Amethyst Stakes at Leopardstown.

The County Dublin-based trainer has enjoyed a memorable 12 months, thanks in chief to the exploits of his dual Group One-winning sprinter A Case Of You.

A winner at Dundalk earlier in the year, Pretreville had since finished second in Doha and in the Listed Heritage Stakes at Leopardstown a month ago.

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The seven-year-old was an 11/1 shot returning to the Foxrock venue for this one-mile contest and raised his game to see off Aidan O'Brien's hat-trick seeking 2/1 favourite Ivy League by a length and three-quarters in the hands of Ronan Whelan.

McGuinness said: "The plan was to come here after he ran a very good race the last day. It was a field of good horses and I suppose you could make a case for the six horses today. He was very impressive and Ronan gave him a world class ride, he dictated.

"We might drop him back to seven furlongs and we might look at Royal Ascot, we're not exactly sure. He was a 112 or 113 horse at one stage in France so he could head back up towards that. He's a very classy horse and a privilege to have.

"He's a horse that doesn't need a lot of running either, we don't like to dip him too many times. It'll probably be at least three or four weeks before you see him again and maybe even six weeks."

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Pretreville races away from Ivy League in the Group Three Amethyst Stakes at Leopardstown
Image: Pretreville races away from Ivy League in the Group Three Amethyst Stakes at Leopardstown

Fumata fires as Waterville fails again

Fumata inflicted a second successive defeat on the highly-touted Waterville in the Captain Dara Fitzpatrick Memorial Maiden.

Bred in the purple as a half-brother to multiple Group One-winning filly Sea Of Class, Waterville was being talked up as a potential Derby horse by trainer O'Brien even before his competitive debut.

The Ballydoyle handler confirmed a trip to Epsom was off the agenda after he could finish only third on his introduction at the Curragh last month, instead raising a Royal Ascot appearance as a possibility.

The Camelot colt was the 4/5 favourite to open his account at the second attempt, but while he made rapid ground from the rear to mount a challenge, he ultimately had no answer to the finishing kick of Jessica Harrington's 12/1 shot Fumata, with two-and-a-quarter lengths separating them at the line.

Fumata, ridden by Shane Foley (left), wins at Leopardstown from Waterville
Image: Fumata, ridden by Shane Foley (left), wins at Leopardstown from Waterville

The winner had finished fourth behind the O'Brien-trained Stone Age on his debut at Navan in March.

"I'm delighted with him. He ran a great race the first day in Navan, but just got outpaced early on," said Harrington. "He was outpaced today and I'd say a mile-and-a-half is his minimum trip, they went very hard.

"He's a very big horse, he's got a lovely pedigree and he's a horse that's probably going to stay in training as a four-year-old. He'll turn into a nice staying horse in the end."

Harrington and jockey Shane Foley made it a swift double as Yashin (11/4) took the following Fund A New Home For Festina Lente Handicap.

Yashin impresses with victory in the Fund A New Home For Festina Lente Handicap at Leopardstown
Image: Yashin impresses with victory in the Fund A New Home For Festina Lente Handicap at Leopardstown

Corporal Violette opened her account at the third attempt in the John R Fitzpatrick Agricultural Contractor Maiden.

Beaten a neck and half a length when filling the runner-up spot in her two juvenile starts, the Ger Lyons-trained filly was the 4/6 favourite for her seasonal reappearance. All In The Mind refused to go down without a fight, but Corporal Violette dug deep for Colin Keane to prevail by a head.

Lyons said: "She's still a bit timid and there is still a lot of growing to do mentally. She did a lot of growing from two to three and it's only in the last month she started showing us the ability that she showed at two.

"She'll go up to a mile now and by the end of the year she'll be running over a mile-and-a-quarter. She won the race today by pure ability and the further she went, the better she was. I'd say there is a lot of improvement in her as she's very much a work in progress."

Corporal Violette and Colin Keane (noseband) beat All in the Mind at Leopardstown
Image: Corporal Violette and Colin Keane (noseband) beat All in the Mind at Leopardstown

The Tom Mullins-trained Female Soldier was a surprise winner of the Clayton Hotel Leopardstown Fillies Maiden on her racecourse debut.

Widely unconsidered at 66/1, the daughter of The Gurkha finished with a flourish under Billy Lee to beat Zaniyka by a neck, with even-money favourite Ark only third.

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"She was giving all the right vibes at home and I was hoping she'd run into a place. When I saw the field I thought it was a fairly hot maiden and fair play to her, she's very decent," said Mullins. "She was able to beat Morning Soldier at home and she'd be getting 7lb from him in a maiden. He's not too bad, he's rated 87.

"I hope she takes it well, she should as she's a strong-minded filly. You probably won't see her out again for a few weeks at least. She'll probably be sold."

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