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Excessively keen to start with, maiden maybe grabbed the reins (4,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

took over

'grabbed the reins' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'excessively keen to start with maiden maybe' is the wordplay.
'excessively' becomes 'too' (to too great a degree).
'to start with' suggests taking the first letters.
'maiden maybe' becomes 'over' (cricket).
The first letter of 'keen' is 'k'.
'too'+'k'+'over'='TOOK OVER'

(Another definition for took over that I've seen is " Came to power".)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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