Meriden lands Listed Listowel feature

The 3.32 at Listowel produced a decisive result as Meriden landed the Listed Listowel Stakes​, with Chris Hayes guiding her​ home for trainer Denis Gerard Hogan. A joint favourite and 9/4 shot, she won well under an assertive front-running ride, leading pillar to post over the 1m trip.

The result adds another entry to Meriden’s extraordinary 2026 record after some prolific campaigning from Hogan. Having only made her debut in March, the three-year-old was competing in her 13th race since in the space of just six months.

The regular racing has evidently had a positive effect on the filly, who only won for the first time in her fifth start. However, she has now scored on six occasions since; she racked up a five-timer between May and July and was even sighted in Group 1 company during Irish Champions Weekend last time out.

She finished seventh in the Matron Stakes that day, but appreciated the drop back in class in these waters. Sent to the front early by Hayes, she barely saw another rival, tiring slightly in the closing stages, but holding plenty in hand to score by a length-and-three-quarters.

Trainer Hogan has previously said of Meriden that “she’s a great mind and she’s so easy to train”. This proved a second win at Listed level for the daughter of Bated Breath, who may well go back up into Group company before the season is over.

Gamble narrowly fails on Iron Fist

The well-supported Iron Fist was one of the market movers of Tuesday, being backed down from 25/1 to starting price of 15/2. The son of New Bay was stepping out of handicap company and acquitted himself well after receiving the punters’ backing. However, he had too much to do to catch Meriden, with Shane Foley having to settle for the runner-up spot.

Fellow joint-favourite Jagged Edge finished third, having raced prominently alongside Meriden. Ultimately, he could not live with the winner’s pace rounding the home bend, but this was another positive effort from Stephen Thorne’s stable star.