Weld colt heads for Ascot

Dermot Weld's colt Pakhoes will take on the top British two-year-olds in the Coventry Stakes next month after making it third time lucky at the Curragh.

Second to Ascot-bound juveniles from Aidan O’Brien’s yard on each of his first two starts, he booked his own ticket for the Royal meeting with a smooth victory in the Sara Lee EBF Maiden at the weekend.

He weaved his way through to lead 150 yards out under Pat Smullen and scored by a comfortable length and a half from Lawood, with O’Brien’s easy-to-back debutant Kimberley Mine another three and a half lengths away in third.

‘‘I’d think he will go for the Coventry Stakes and he should run a really respectable race,’’ trainer Dermot Weld said of the winner. ‘‘He is a good-ground horse and he doesn’t need this soft ground.

‘‘He didn’t get the clearest of runs but I wasn’t worried as he is a lazy, laid-back horse and he was always going to pick up.

‘‘He is a good, tough colt - workmanlike and nothing flash.’’