Folsom Blues is National hero at the Curragh Folsom Blues led home a 1-2 for trainer Joesph O’Brien when taking the Group 1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National Stakes in scintillating fashion at the Curragh. The son of Blue Point, available at 10/1 overnight and sent off at 11/2, was patiently ridden by Joey Sheridan and made smooth headway to lead a furlong from home. He soon stretched clear to beat stablemate Monogram by an impressive six lengths with Florida Bay a further length and a quarter back in third. O’Brien said, “ I didn’t expect him to win so impressively but we felt we were coming here with two really nice colts. “They both had very good preparations, obviously different preparations, and the winner looked really, really good today. “It really was top-class form and we’ve had a big opinion of the horse all along. He put it all together today. “I’m delighted for Kieran (Lalor) and all the Al Shira’aa Racing team. “There is a big team of people there and it’s a real privilege for me to have their support and to be given access to homebreds like this. It’s really rewarding and a real privilege for us to have a Group 1 winner with them. “It was a great ride, very cool and executed perfectly. “I suppose the Dewhurst would be an obvious stepping stone. We had America in the back of our mind as well, before this race. I suppose it would be along those lines. “He’s a good horse. Dropping him back to six was probably a big thing to ask him (last time) and he ran great. He loved coming back to seven.” On the runner-up he added, “I thought it was a great run, just a bit of inexperience told through the middle of the race but he hit the line really strong. He’s very exciting for the future.” Sheridan said, “The main thing was to get him to relax, and what a good training performance this is by Joseph. At the start of the year all he wanted to do was please you and Dylan has done a fantastic job on him as well. “He was second in the Phoenix over six and to bring him back over seven and get him to relax was massive. “To ride a Group 1 winner in Ireland means everything and I can’t thank Joseph and everyone in the yard enough. “I know this horse well since he was a yearling. He can be a bit fractious, but Joseph had him spot on today.” Additional reporting by Gary Carson
