Palmerstown House Estate Irish St Leger |
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| Grade 1, Curragh 16:50 €250,000 added, 3yo plus, 1m 6f, Class 1 |
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| Sunday 14th September 2014 | |
1 Brown Panther 14/1
2 Leading Light 9/10F
3 Encke 9/1
11 ran Distances: 6½l, hd, 1½l
TIME 2m 57.15s (slow by 0.15s)
7th British-trained winner of Irish Champions Weekend 2014 as Brown Panther takes the the Palmerstown House Estate Irish St Leger for Michael Owen
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Trainer Tom Dascombe was full of praise for jockey Richard Kingscote after an enterprising ride aboard Brown Panther gave the pair their first taste of Group One success today at the Curragh.
Former England international footballer and part-owner Michael Owen was moved to tears when his pride and joy claimed Royal Ascot glory three years ago and there have been plenty of good days since, but this was undoubtedly his crowning moment.
Sent off at 14-1 having run consistently well in some of the season's top staying events, Brown Panther was positioned in second for much of the journey, with Kingscote the only rider keen to keep Ballydoyle pacemaker Eye Of The Storm within striking distance.
While Eye Of The Storm capitulated soon after the home turn, Brown Panther, perhaps to the surprise of the other riders, kept up the gallop remorselessly and the chasing pack never looked like reeling him in.
The star of Manor House Stables passed the post six and a half lengths clear of Ascot Gold Cup hero and odds-on favourite Leading Light, with Encke a close third.
Dascombe said: "Well, the first thing to say is he gave him a brilliant ride.
"It's just worked out today. We have been having a real lean time. We didn't manage to have a winner last week and I was close to pulling him out, but there aren't too many Irish St Legers so you have to run. The horse never lets us down.
"He won't go to Australia (for the Melbourne Cup). He'll go for the Champions race at Ascot (Long Distance Cup) if he's all right in the morning.
"We are thinking about giving him a few races in Dubai. He'll probably run for one more season.
"It's my first Group One winner and couldn't have come at a better time."
Owen said: "That was very special. He's the apple of my eye, as everyone knows, and he was pretty spectacular out there today.
"He's a superstar."
Palmerstown House Estate Irish St. Leger (Group 1)
£250,000 added, 3yo plus, 1m 6f
11 ran
Going: Good to Firm
| Pos | Dr | Dist | Horse | Wgt | Trainer | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | (5) | Brown Panther 14/1 R Kingscote |
9-11 | Tom Dascombe | 6 | |
| 2nd | (10) | 6½ | Leading Light (IRE) 9/10f J P O'Brien |
9-11 | A P O'Brien | 4 |
| 3rd | (7) | hd | Encke (USA) 9/1 A Kirby |
9-11 | C Appleby | 5 |
| 4th | (1) | 1½ | Willing Foe (USA) 10/1 F M Berry |
9-11 | Saeed bin Suroor | 7 |
| 5th | (4) | 2½ | Pale Mimosa (IRE) 9/2 P J Smullen |
9-8 | D K Weld | 5 |
| 6th | (8) | 1¾ | Royal Diamond (IRE) 16/1 N G McCullagh |
9-11 | J P Murtagh | 8 |
| 7th | (6) | hd | Pallasator 6/1 Andrea Atzeni |
9-11 | Sir Mark Prescott | 5 |
| 8th | (9) | 2¾ | Shu Lewis (IRE) 66/1 J A Heffernan |
9-8 | Ms M Blake | 8 |
| 9th | (2) | 13 | Certerach (IRE) 66/1 S Foley |
9-11 | M Halford | 6 |
| 10th | (3) | ¾ | Eye of The Storm (IRE) 50/1 C O'Donoghue |
9-11 | A P O'Brien | 4 |
| 11th | (11) | 15 | Achtung 200/1 G F Carroll |
9-11 | L Comer | 4 |
