Owned by Aquis Racing and Al Mamoura Partnership, the three-year-old colt Southern Lights opened his scorecard in the Leopardstown Annual Members (C & G) Maiden on Wednesday. This was just his second start, having debuted in September as a two-year-old for a second place.
Trained by Joseph O’Brien, Southern Lights broke well to sit behind the leaders in this 17-runner race under jockey Declan McDonogh. Running over 2,000m, there was an even pace throughout. They began racing in the final turn, with Southern Lights travelling strongly. Once in the straight, the track opened up and he hit the lead with 200m left to run. He stretched out to pull clear, winning comfortably by two lengths and three quarters in front of Hell Bent, the long-time leader, who is trained by Mrs John Harrington and was ridden by Shane Foley.

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