Comanche Brave impresses in Greenlands romp Comanche Brave announced himself as a leading player in the sprint division with a stylish romp in the Weatherbys Ireland Greenlands Stakes at the Curragh. Fifth in the Irish 2,000 Guineas before finishing third in the Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot last term, Donnacha O’Brien’s son of Wootton Bassett only returned to sprinting on his most recent outing when set the formidable task of downing Hong Kong superstar Ka Ying Rising. Not disgraced when fifth at Sha Tin, he was sent off 7-4 favourite back on home soil and having tracked the pace in the early stages, loomed up ominously for his rivals inside the final furlongs before breezing to a going-away two-length triumph from Big Gossey in the hands of Ryan Moore. O’Brien said: “I wanted to go sprinting with him for a while and I thought a few times along the way that it was stupid but thankfully it wasn’t. “I’m very pleased, he’s a horse that’s improving and he’s a young horse for a sprinter. “It’s our first few goes back at six with him so he’s going to keep getting better. “He was nearly a very good horse over a mile and I thought he could be a proper horse back sprinting. Obviously sprinters take a little bit of time to get used to that kind of pace.” He went on: “We were taking Ka Ying Rising on in his back yard and going right-handed around a bend really isn’t this fella’s thing. “He’s better on a straight track but we were still very pleased with that performance, he wasn’t disgraced by any means against useful horses in behind Ka Ying Rising and I think he’s taken another step up today. “You need that maturity and strength against older sprinters and he’s really starting get that. I hope he’s going to be a proper horse, I think he could be.” Comanche Brave was cut to 14-1 from 25s by Paddy Power for the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot with O’Brien adding: “The owner, Mr Almuhaideb, bought him after he ran in Abu Dhabi, to run in Saudi Arabia. “It’s very nice to have a good horse for him, he’s bought another breezer from me as well. Hopefully we can have a good time at Ascot. “He’s a good horse and he’s getting better. He’ll go straight to Ascot now for the Jubilee. “He’ll go there with a chance anyway. There will be very good horses from all around the world. We want to be competing on the big stage and he’ll go there with a live chance.”
