Lucky Vega and Shane Foley win the Keeneland Phoenix Stakes© Photo Healy Racing
Jessica Harrington has a choice of high-profile targets in mind next for her Phoenix Stakes hero Lucky Vega.
A winner on his Naas debut, the son of Lope De Vega was then narrowly beaten by fellow Phoenix contender Laws Of Indices in last month’s Railway Stakes.
However, in what looked a strong renewal of last Sunday’s six-furlong Group One, Lucky Vega emphatically turned the tables and left the rest of his rivals trailing in his wake.
In the immediate aftermath, his Moone-based trainer raised the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket on September 26 as a potential target, but she is not ruling out the possibility of stepping the colt up to seven furlongs for the Curragh’s National Stakes a fortnight earlier.
Harrington said: “I’m very happy with how he’s come out of the race — he couldn’t be better.
“There’s the Middle Park at Newmarket and the National Stakes at the Curragh — we could stick at six furlongs or step up to seven.
“We’ll just feel our way and see what comes up.”
Lucky Vega was cut to a best-priced 16-1 for next year’s 2000 Guineas after his weekend win, with the Aidan O’Brien-trained Battleground heading the market at 8-1.
