Eirene hits the right note for proud owner Michael Yarrow at Chelmsford

There are likely to be few better birthday presents owner Michael Yarrow will have received than Eirene and there could be plenty more to unwrap after she returned to winning ways at Chelmsford City.

Having suffered a frustrating campaign since finishing third in the Nell Gwyn Stakes, the Dean Ivory-trained daughter of Declaration Of War bounced back from pulling up in the Stewards’ Cup with a length-and-a-half success in the Greene King IPA Fillies’ Conditions Stakes.

Yarrow said of the 11-10 winner: “She was bought as a birthday present by my wife and daughter.

“We went to Dean’s one day and they said ‘stop here by the paddock’ and there was this big bow over the gate and inside (paddock) there was a little foal, which was Eirene.

“We ran her in the Nell Gwyn, as you always shoot for the stars to see if she would handle Newmarket, but she didn’t handle it so she did well to finish third.

“We charted a different course and the ground turned against us, it has hardly rained since then and she had a couple of runs on quick ground and ran badly. Compare that to when she runs on the soft, she is a different animal.

“She handles the all-weather gallop at home and we thought we would give it a go and it opens up more options. She is entered in a Group Two at Doncaster (Park Stakes), but the ground is key – if she doesn’t get it soft, she won’t go.”

Encrypted looked a sprinter worth following when scoring at York earlier in the year and after two no-shows the Hugo Palmer -trained son of Showcasing secured a confidence-boosting win in the Old Golden Hen Handicap.

Winning rider Josephine Gordon said of the 9-2 chance: “I don’t really know what went wrong at Newmarket, as I didn’t ride him that day, but at Windsor there were 10 horses that didn’t get a run and unfortunately we were one.

“I said to Hugo he was moving well and back in good order. Today I did fancy him if he came back to form, as he loves going round a bend.”

Liam Keniry appears to have worked out how to get the best out of Majboor (6-1) after claiming his third win aboard the Dominic Ffrench Davis-trained four-year-old when toughing it out from the front to take the Old Speckled Hen Handicap by half a length.

Keniry said: “He has come back this year a better horse. I’ve won him three times now. He sticks it out and he is very uncomplicated.”

Robert Havlin saw his decision to stick to the stands rail rewarded with victory after steering the John Gosden-trained Lady Baker to glory by a neck in the London Glory Fillies’ Novice Stakes.

Havlin said of the even money scorer: “She seems to be improving, as we are stepping her up in trip. If she can get into a 0-85 she might be competitive.”

Debutant Roma Bangkok caused a surprise in the opening East Coast IPA Novice Stakes when flooring odds-on favourite Federal Law by a length and a half in the hands of Marc Monaghan.

Monaghan said of Marco Botti’s 33-1 shot: “His work had been quite good. He was game enough and battled to the line. I’d say we would go back over a mile. He will get further in time.”