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Michael Graham

Michael Graham

Battle Of Marathon quickens up to win nicely

Thu 19th Jun 2014, 18:29

Battle Of Marathon surges towards the lineBattle Of Marathon surges towards the line
© Photo Healy Racing

Despite drifting in the betting market, Battle Of Marathon showed plenty of dash in winning the juvenile maiden over six furlongs at Leopardstown.

Having opened at 11/2 Aidan O’Brien’s colt was relatively friendless in being returned at 7s. This was a step up on his debut performance when seventh of eight in a five furlong Tipperary maiden won by subsequent Queen Mary heroine Anthem Alexander.

In today’s encounter he tracked stablemate Rule The Waves in the final furlong before powering clear with 200 yards to race. He had two and three quarter lengths in hand of the staying on I Will Excel (9/4 favourite).

Rule The Waves was two and a quarter lengths further back in third at 6/1. The gamble of the race was Just A Penny from 12s this morning down to an SP of 9/2. He came home sixth.

Successful jockey Colm O’Donoghue said: “The step up to six furlongs helped him compared to the five in Tipperary in what turned out to be a very good maiden with the Queen Mary winner in it. He’ll improve a lot for racing. It’s good to firm, but it is beautiful ground.”

Battle Of Marathon, a son of War Front, holds Group 1 entries in the Phoenix and National Stakes and a Group 2 entry in the Railway Stakes.

Additional reporting by Alan Magee

1st
7/1
Tote €8.00 €2.20
2nd
2.75L
9/4Fav
€1.30
3rd
2.25L
6/1
€1.90
4th
2L
20/1
About Michael Graham
Michael has worked in horse racing journalism for more than 15 years, having also written a weekly betting column on Gaelic football and hurling for a newspaper. He is involved in writing the My Racing Story features on this website. He spent a year in South Africa completing a Diploma in Business Administration and also studied Newspaper Journalism in Belfast. He enjoys playing 5-a-side football on a regular basis.