Murtagh doubles up as Alakazi lands Group 2 Solonaway Stakes Alakazi completed a near 67/1 double on the afternoon for trainer Johnny Murtagh when taking the Group 2 Tonybet Solonaway Stakes at Leopardstown. The Aga Khan homebred son of Footstepsinthesand was ridden to lead a furlong out by Ben Coen and the 7/2 chance kept on strongly to score by a length and a quarter. Mutasarref finished well on the stands’ side rail to take the runner-up spot with Commanche Brave just a nose further back in third. Murtagh said, “You dream about days like today. “I’ve been telling Pat Downes all year how good this horse was. He was a bit of a work in progress. He was a bit aggressive earlier in the year, Ben was saying he’s not on the bridle or off the bridle. “His last few bits of work have been great; he’s learning on the job. We were a little bit disappointed he didn’t win the last time, but we knew coming here that he was going to be a different proposition. “He’s a beautiful horse and a beautiful horse to train. I think he can go all the way. “He’s in at Ascot. He probably doesn’t want the ground too soft, and Ben said he handled that ground really well. I think he deserves a shot at it; he’s after winning a Group 2. “I’d love to keep him for next year as well.” When asked to compare riding winners and training winners on a big day like today he added, “It’s very satisfying. You know you’ve done the work and know how hard the lads have worked to get here, how hard it is to get the horses here. “I just felt this week that the horses were coming into it in good shape. Their work was good, bloods and scope were good and Tom, our vet, was happy with everything. “It did stack up like it was going to be a good day but hopefully it’s not finished yet.” The Curragh trainer was also on the scoresheet earlier with Rahmi (14/1) in the Sovereign Path Premier Handicap. Coen said, “He’s a classy horse and we liked him from the get-go. “He won his maiden impressively here earlier in the year. He had been a bit keen, so we were dropping him in and the races were probably getting away on him a bit. “He’s after growing up a lot and we rode him that bit more positive today. He doesn’t do much when he gets there but he ground it out well.” Additional reporting by Gary Carson
