Lilbourne Lad clinched his place in the team for next week's Royal Ascot meeting when scoring a runaway success in the Listed race at Naas on Monday.
Richard Hughes made good use of Lilbourne Lad's early speed, and the 9-4 shot had the race won some way from home, eventually strolling in by six lengths.
Richard Hannon jnr, on duty in Ireland, said:"We have always liked Lilbourne Lad and, having been so impressive when winning first time out at Doncaster, we were disappointed when he then got beat at Newmarket,
"It was probably a combination of factors - he was giving the winner 3lb and maybe he lacked a bit of experience and did not go off fast enough - but he has done that very well.
"He is not a horse who shows us too much on the gallops in the mornings, but we will have to give serious consderation to Royal Ascot now (probably the Coventry Stakes) now, and after that we will be aiming for the valuable Sales races."
The boss said:"We have plenty of youngsters to run, so I am pleased that the race was divided. In the opener we run Plym, who was getting the hang of things at the end on her debut at Newbury. She will have learned from that, while our other runner, Mr Knightley, who is making his debut, comes from the same family as Indian Rocket, who was third in a July Cup, so there should be plenty of speed there. He has been going well at home.
"Similarly, in the second division one has raced and the other is a first-timer. Netley Marsh completely blew the start first time up at Kempton, and, in the circumstances, did well to finish as close as he did, while Julie Wood's debutante, The New Black, is an Oratorio filly who only cost 10,000gns so gets in with a nice weight."