Pencil too sharp for Curragh competitors

Pencil Hill provided a shock result in the Listed Isabel Morris EBF Stakes on 2000 Guineas afternoon at the Curragh.

Tracey Collins’ Acclamation colt romped home at odds of 12-1 in the five-furlong dash, for which Aidan O’Brien’s Achilles Of Troy was sent off the hot 2-5 favourite.

The latter bounced out of the stalls following his Newmarket success and was still in command over a furlong out but weakened rapidly soon after and dropped away to finish a well-beaten fourth.

Collins’ charge meanwhile surged up the centre of the course to collect by a tidy length and three-quarters from the eyecatching You’resothrilling and maintain his unbeaten record.

Collins, in her first year training following the death of her father Con, said: “This is a very lucky race for us. Dad has won it before and we have had several placed in it.

“They went very fast early on and he was off his head for a while but Pat (Shanahan) gave him a chance to find his stride.

“He did it well in the end, although I was a bit apprehensive dropping him back from six to five furlongs.

“He is in the Railway Stakes and will go there now as he deserves to step up.”

The O’Brien-trained runner-up, a full-sister to the brilliant Giant’s Causeway, went into plenty of notebooks with her run and looks sure to be winning races, not least when stepping up in trip.