Red-hot O’Brien unearths another potential Star Performer
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Sun 19 Jul 2026
Joseph O’Brien said it will be a case of “small steps” rather than ambitious targets after a promising winning debut from Star Performer in the Cavalor Equine Nutrition Irish EBF Fillies Maiden at the Curragh.
A day after Johanna Walsh spreadeagled the field in the Juddmonte Irish Oaks under Dylan Browne McMonagle, the unraced daughter of Sea The Stars was threaded through traffic by the same rider to win by two lengths going away.
For all the undoubted promise of this debut victory at 7-2, in-form trainer O’Brien insisted they would keep her sights low for the time being.
“She did a satisfactory trial last month and we thought she’d run a nice race here on debut,” he said. “It probably set up well for her. The thought would be that we’d go for probably smaller steps for now, rather than aggressive steps.
“She’s a daughter of Sea The Stars and you’d have to like the way she won today.”
O’Brien, who won the feature race of the day when Trustyourinstinct impressed in the Curragh Cup, was also on the mark with Kirkland Sioux (5-1) in the Racing World 50th Anniversary Irish EBF Fillies Handicap.
“She’s progressing and gets the mile well,” said O’Brien. “I’m very happy to win another one with her. How deep the race was it’s hard to know but she had a nice light weight on her back. There might be something for her in Galway.”
Jockey Colin Keane and trainer Ger Lyons were on the mark in the opening 1xBet.ie Proud Partners Of Irish Sport Irish EBF Maiden when 10-1 shot La Tache delivered at the third time of asking.
“He is slow out of the gates and Colin said he is never going to be any other way. That’s who he is,” said the winning trainer. “But he is another sprinter to look forward to. It’s just taken a while for the penny to drop with him.”
Keane then doubled up himself on Paul Flynn’s I Ready (5-1) in the James Nolan Bar Kildare Nursery Handicap.
“He’s a horse that we thought might win an auction maiden. We probably got quite a bit of a high mark for trying to have a go at a few of them. The last day he was coming back off a break and I’d say he just came on from that,” said Flynn.
The closing Final Furlong Podcast With 1xBet.ie Irish EBF Maiden went to Jack Foley’s Tokyo Tower (6-1), ridden by Billy lee.
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