Babouche turned in a game performance of the highest order on Sunday to take the Group 3 Anglesey Stakes at the Curragh.
The Kodiac filly, a homebred of Juddmonte Farms', had looked potentially smart when winning her debut at Cork by five lengths. As a result, she was sent off the 13/8 favourite for the Anglesey, despite being a filly taking on the colts.
Coming into the final furlong, Camille Pissarro looked to have stolen an advantage but Babouche picked up well for Colin Keane, answering all of his calls to run down the leader and win by a cosy half-length.
In the process, she became the 99th stakes winner for Kodiac and his sixth of the year in Europe.
"It didn't really go to plan - she jumped left but after that we kept it straightforward," said Colin Keane. "The pacemaker brought us along a good clip the whole way. Even though we were going quick, she was in her comfort zone the whole way. I would have liked him to have taken us a bit further because when she got there, she didn't really know what to do. But when I asked her, she quickened well. When she pulled herself together, she got to the line nicely.
"She was a very good winner on debut. She's very laid back and relaxed, she's like a pony at home - that's a great complaint to have."
The Mehmas filly California Dreamer ran another good race for Amo Racing in third.
Babouche is out of the Arch mare Pavlosk, a Listed-winning relation to Zafonic and Zamindar. Pavlosk previously clicked with Kodiac to produce the high-class Zarinsk, whose five wins for the same connections included the Group 2 Minstrel Stakes and Group 3 Brownstown and Cornelscourt Stakes.
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