Marco Polo travels to ready victory The Aidan O'Brien-trained Marco Polo (1/8) took advantage of a drop back to maiden company to score emphatically in the Coolmore Stud Gleneagles Irish EBF (C & G) Maiden at Cork over six furlongs. The son of Night of Thunder, who is a full brother to the enigmatic Saber Strike, finished a promising second behind subsequent Group 3 scorer Pushed The Boat Out on debut at the Curragh. He was then well-fancied for the York Gimcrack Stakes (Group 2) but failed to make his mark. Wayne Lordan took command of this contest from the outset and started to increase the tempo of the race from the halfway point. In the colours of Michael Tabor, the juvenile colt was driven out and stretched clear readily inside the final furlong to beat Jungle Wise (20/1) by five and a half lengths. The keen El Domino (50/1) was a length and a quarter back in third. Middle Park Ambitions After Cork Redemption "He had a very good run first time, with the form of the race working out well, so Aidan pitched him in the Gimcrack. He was very keen and did everything wrong at York, so we put a line through that and this race worked out lovely and gave him confidence,” reported stable assistant Chris Armstrong. "Wayne said he has a lot of pace and coming back to five (furlongs) would be no problem to him. He has shown a lot of potential at home and is lovely looking. "It wouldn't surprise me if he pitched up in the (Group 1) Middle Park Stakes as he is a horse of potential. "He can boogie." Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes.
