Going - Good (Good To Firm In Places) - Watered. Fine and sunny
Jackpot Pool - €7,808.00 Not Won. Carried forward to Ballinrobe on Monday 28th May. Placepot Pool - €39,406.07 Dividend - €7,824.50 Winning Units - 3.77. Daily Double Pool - €615.00 Not Won. Carried forward to No Course on Sunday 3rd June. Pick Six Pool - €5,392.50 Not Won. Carried forward to Ballinrobe on Monday 28th May. Days Aggregate - €518,913.13 Last Year €717,372.00
O'Brien draws his Battle Lines
Lines Of Battle was just ready to come racing and you'd have to be very happy with him. We liked him and he had been working nicely at home. I thought Leitir Mor would be hard to beat because he had a good first run but Lines Of Battle travelled well today and you'd expect him to come forward from the run. It is possible he'll run at Royal Ascot and today's race was a view to seeing if he could run there.
Speaking Of Which impresses in Gallinule win
we had toyed with running Speaking Of Which in yesterday's 2,000 Guineas but we put a visor on him the other morning and it woke him up and sharpened him up - the further he went, the better he went. He's a big idle horse and the visor was on him just to help him concentrate. We did it years ago with Go And Go (Belmont Stakes winner) and when he put the blinkers on, it transformed him and the same with Brief Truce in the St James' Palace Stakes. Speaking Of Which may be a horse to go a mile and a half and while he is big and immature, he's like a lot of those big horses in that when they start to improve you don't know where they're going to finish. He did it very well today and will come back here at the end of June (for the Irish Derby). He's a big progressive colt ad there'a a lot to look forward to.
Ninth Group 1 win for 'wild looking' So You Think
we're probably only really getting to know So You Think now and do the right things with him. He had a good break after Dubai and Joseph was very happy with him. What is amazing about this horse is that his mane and tail grow twice as quick as any other horse, so if you were to be pulling his mane, you would only be annoying him! If you look at the length his forelock grows, it is very unusual - he has that wild look about him!. Today is the last time to run in Ireland but for us he has been an amazing horse. To have him and to train him has been an unbelievable experience. He owns the whole place at home and is big and bold but is also obedient. He has that super presence.
Late show from Monaghan denies Murtagh
they don't come any tougher or more genuine than Midnight Soprano - her sister was the same and they're a lovely late maturing family. We had this in mind for a while and it was 'one shot for a big pot' and hopefully she'll go on to get blacktype. She goes on both soft and quick ground and has got pace and stays. It was a great ride from the kid and he is great value for his 7lbs claim. There'a a Group 3 for her at Naas and I'm fairly confident she'll get blacktype at some stage. The owner (Jim Monaghan, grandfather of the winning jockey) is a great man and is very patient.
Samitar and Harley motor to 1,000 Guineas win
Samitar had the form with La Collina on last year's form but we had to find the filly! She was ridden with a bit of confidence today instead of just letting 'whizz', which is what happened in her first two races this season. I said I wanted to do it my way today and the owner (Martin Schwartz) left me put Martin up and he got it spot on on her. What a lucky lad!. I keep going on about the soft ground but everyone has been running on a 'bog' all spring and it's a crazy situation how Homecoming Queen won a Classic by nine lengths . there's no logic to it but when you get into the 'high' summer, your results tend to get a lot more predictable. At least we got her ground today and now you're starting to see her at her best - she'll probably go for the Coronation Stakes and then onto America later in the year.
Trotter steers difficult route to win
Harry Trotter is a good little horse and got hampered by a loose horse at Naas but he still ran well. I thought at halfway it wasn't going to happen for him but he is very genuine. He improved a good but over the winter and I don't know what we will do with him now, we'll have a think.
Halford trains winner for the Blue Corner!
he is a lovely horse. He is a big baby and you can see why we didn't run him until now. The lads at Darley (owner Sheikh Mohammed's breeding operation) have been fantastic and they never pushed me. They said to run him when he was ready. Blue Corner has taken plenty of time and hopefully this is only a start, he'll get further in time and goes well on the fast ground although he wouldn't need it. We'll step him up now and I wouldn't be afraid to put him in a stakes race now. He'll have learned plenty from that and that will have done him the world of good.
