SCANDINAVIA CEMENTED HIS status as the king of the staying division with a hard-fought victory in the Comer Group International Irish St. Leger.
Winner of the St Leger at Doncaster on this weekend 12 months ago, the Justify colt had continued his progress by winning each of his previous four starts this season including the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in June and his second Goodwood Cup the following month.
The four-year-old was a 4-11 shot to extend his overall winning sequence to eight in the Irish Flat season’s final Classic and while his stablemate Queenstown proved a tough nut to crack on the front end, Scandinavia eventually wore him down and was ultimately well on top as he passed the post two lengths to the good.
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O’Brien, who enjoyed a one-two-three as Jan Brueghel made late gains to pick up the bronze medal, said of Scandinavia: “He’s a great horse. He just has an unbelievable amount of stamina. He’s a big, high cruiser, and we were delighted to have Queenstown there today to keep going along.
“He (Scandinavia) just goes along there, and he really only kicks in after a mile-and-six, which is very unusual.
“He was trained for Ascot for the Gold Cup and then to do these other things. The ground is probably as soft as he wants it, he’s a very good mover as well. Ryan (Moore) gave him a great ride.”
Earlier at the Curragh, Folsom Blues upstaged his better fancied stablemate Monogram to claim top honours in the Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes.
Having made a big impression on his course and distance debut three weeks ago, Monogram was the 9-4 favourite to successfully step up to Group One level for Joseph O’Brien, with his father Aidan’s Futurity winner Giant Sequoia and Oliver Cole’s British raider Dr Rascal rated his two biggest dangers.
But Folsom Blues brought strong Group One form to the table himself, having filled the runner-up spot best of the rest behind the earlier Moyglare Stud Stakes heroine Sun Goddess in last month’s Phoenix Stakes, and went one better in some style at 11-2 under Joey Sheridan.
Comanche Brave and Billy Loughnane swooped late to supplement their July Cup success with victory in the BAR 1 Betting Flying Five Stakes, while Sun Goddess further enhanced her huge reputation with a runaway victory in the Moyglare Stud Stakes.
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Scandinavia takes winning run to eight in Irish St Leger
SCANDINAVIA CEMENTED HIS status as the king of the staying division with a hard-fought victory in the Comer Group International Irish St. Leger.
Winner of the St Leger at Doncaster on this weekend 12 months ago, the Justify colt had continued his progress by winning each of his previous four starts this season including the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in June and his second Goodwood Cup the following month.
The four-year-old was a 4-11 shot to extend his overall winning sequence to eight in the Irish Flat season’s final Classic and while his stablemate Queenstown proved a tough nut to crack on the front end, Scandinavia eventually wore him down and was ultimately well on top as he passed the post two lengths to the good.
O’Brien, who enjoyed a one-two-three as Jan Brueghel made late gains to pick up the bronze medal, said of Scandinavia: “He’s a great horse. He just has an unbelievable amount of stamina. He’s a big, high cruiser, and we were delighted to have Queenstown there today to keep going along.
“He (Scandinavia) just goes along there, and he really only kicks in after a mile-and-six, which is very unusual.
“He was trained for Ascot for the Gold Cup and then to do these other things. The ground is probably as soft as he wants it, he’s a very good mover as well. Ryan (Moore) gave him a great ride.”
Earlier at the Curragh, Folsom Blues upstaged his better fancied stablemate Monogram to claim top honours in the Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes.
Having made a big impression on his course and distance debut three weeks ago, Monogram was the 9-4 favourite to successfully step up to Group One level for Joseph O’Brien, with his father Aidan’s Futurity winner Giant Sequoia and Oliver Cole’s British raider Dr Rascal rated his two biggest dangers.
But Folsom Blues brought strong Group One form to the table himself, having filled the runner-up spot best of the rest behind the earlier Moyglare Stud Stakes heroine Sun Goddess in last month’s Phoenix Stakes, and went one better in some style at 11-2 under Joey Sheridan.
Comanche Brave and Billy Loughnane swooped late to supplement their July Cup success with victory in the BAR 1 Betting Flying Five Stakes, while Sun Goddess further enhanced her huge reputation with a runaway victory in the Moyglare Stud Stakes.
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Racing the Curragh