Galileo European Breeders Fund Futurity Stakes |
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| Group 2, Curragh 14:45 €130,000 added, 2yo, 7f, Class 1  |
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| Sunday 21st August 2016 | |
1 Churchill 1/4F
2 Radio Silence
5/1
3
Arcada 12/1
4 ran Winning time: 1m 27.36s (slow by 3.86s)
Non-runner: Capri (unsuitable ground)
Churchill too strong in Futurity Stakes at the Curragh
Aidan O'Brien's Churchill was already at the forefront of the betting for next year's Investec Derby after following up in a Group Three at Leopardstown, and travelled well behind leader Arcada in the early stages of the race.
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After Seamie Heffernan angled the 1/4 favourite out to lead over a furlong out the result was hardly in doubt, as he fended off the challenge of Radio Silence by two lengths, looking better the further he went.
O'Brien said: "I'm delighted with him. He's lovely and lazy and just quickens. Seamus was very happy with him.
"He's very lazy and doesn't do an awful lot in front. It was the same at Ascot and Leopardstown. He's a big, sleepy fellow.
"He'll come back here for the National Stakes and there's no doubt he'll be better on better ground.
"Hopefully he'll get further than a mile, but he's not slow this horse. I'd definitely say he's a Guineas-type of horse.
"Maybe he will get a mile and a half, but he doesn't go like a mile-and-a-half horse in his work. He has plenty of boot and is a big, powerful horse."
Churchill is 16/1 joint-favourite for next year's Investec Derby with Sky Bet, who clipped him a point to 7/1 for the 2000 Guineas and representative Michael Shinners said: "There was a brief moment when the giant Churchill may have been slightly caught for speed but once he got going there was no stopping the son of Galileo and he looks a colt of huge potential in terms of middle-distances next season.
"We've got him at the top of our Derby market alongside stablemates Capri and Douglas Macarthur."
Galileo European Breeders Fund Futurity Stakes (Group 2)
€130,000 added, 2yo only, 7f
4 ran
Going: Yielding to Soft
| Pos | Dr | D | Horse SP | Jockey Weight | Trainer | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | (2) | Churchill (IRE) 1/4f | J A Heffernan 9-3 |
A P O'Brien | 2 | |
| 2nd | (3) | 2 | Radio Silence (USA) 5/1 | K J Manning 9-3 |
J S Bolger | 2 |
| 3rd | (5) | ¾ | Arcada (IRE) 12/1 | D O'Brien 9-3 |
Joseph P O'Brien | 2 |
| 4th | (1) | 2¾ | Lancaster Bomber (USA) 14/1 | E J McNamara 9-3 |
A P O'Brien | 2 |
| NR | (4) | Capri (IRE) | M C Hussey 9-3 |
A P O'Brien | 2 |
