Lady Alexander pays King mark of respect

Lady Alexander triumphed for the Irish at Goodwood yesterday and helped to restore the reputation of King Of Kings, her country's much- vaunted 2000 Guineas contender.

King Of Kings' hopes of lifting the Classic appeared to be seriously dented when he was surprisingly defeated by Lady Alexander at the Curragh last month.

But the form was put in a much better light yesterday as Lady Alexander overcame a drop back to the minimum distance to seize the Molecomb Stakes. In the front rank for most of the journey in the Group Three contest, the filly battled gamely to deny Mugello by half a length.

Lady Alexander is trained by the Curragh-based Con Collins, who won the corresponding event two years ago with Almaty and sent out Raphane to finish second in the Richmond Stakes 12 months ago. "It gives me great pleasure to come here, and it's great to come and collect again," said Collins, who has held a licence for 45 years.

"She's as tough as old teak and I'm sure the King Of Kings team will be delighted that she's managed to do it."

"When we took on King Of Kings we thought the race would cut up and the idea was to get some black type.

"As it turned out we got a bonus and won the race as well. I didn't back in that race but I had a good bet on her today."

Connections are keen to return Lady Alexander to a longer trip and have pointed to the seven-furlong Moyglare Stakes at the Curragh next month as a possible target.