Murtagh double cuts Smullen’s lead to six

JOHNNY MURTAGH closed to within six of former champion Pat Smullen in the title race thanks to a double on two-year-olds Petronius Maximum and Gemstone at the Curragh yesterday, the first two legs of a 134/1 treble for Aidan O’Brien.

Narrowly beaten in the ‘Windsor Castle’ at Royal Ascot and injured when he slipped up at the Curragh in mid-summer, Petronius Maximus, helped by the additions of a first-time visor, made all to land the opening six-furlong maiden at the expense of Vastitas and favourite Shelley Beach, despite drifting right in the closing stages.

“He cut himself under a shoulder when he fell here in the summer and had to be given a break,” said O’Brien. “He didn’t get the best of runs the last day here and came forward a good bit from the run. And the visors helped him concentrate. Because he had time off after his fall, he might run again.”