Call Me Captain wins Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden in Naas
Call Me Captain & Dylan Browne McMonagle won the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden
Call Me Captain provided Dylan Browne McMonagle with his 53rd winner of the domestic season and the second leg of a Thursday double when landing the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden on two-year-old day in Naas.
Trained by Natalia Lupini, the towering Calyx colt stayed on dourly up the hill to beat slow-starter Reyenzi by three-quarters of a length in a race which saw Aidan O’Brien’s Galveston, a 2million purchase and 4/6 favourite, trail in last of the seven runners.
“We’ve liked him a lot at home and he was just ready to start today,” explained Craig Bryson, partner and assistant to Lupini, “Paddy Turley bought him and sent him to us. We were hoping he’d run well, so winning is a bonus. He showed a bit of class and looks a nice horse going forward.” “He might have one more run and should make a nice middle-distance horse next year.” The winning rider was deputising for the injured Seamus Heffernan, who missed out on three winners at the meeting.
Ballydoyle second-string Antelope Canyon (Wayne Lordan) turned over hot-pot Currawood in the six-furlong Irish Stallion Farms EBF 2-Y-0 Maiden.
The No Nay Never colt made the running, looked in trouble when the 8/13 favourite headed him with less than two furlongs to race but responded to Lordan’s urgings and got up again close to home to score by a half-length. The pair finished five and a half lengths clear of Ryan Moore’s mount Mississippi River.
“He was very green in slow ground on his debut here, in a race that’s working out well,” stated Ballydoyle representative Chris Armstrong, “He came forward a lot from the run and Wayne thinks he has the makings of a lovely horse.”
“He put his head down and battled and will have no problem stepping-up to seven furlongs. He might go for the ‘Legacy’ in Dundalk and should be a Guineas Trial horse next spring.”
The meeting opened with a shock as 100/1 shot Carla Ridge, ridden for Patrick and Eddie Harty by Chris Hayes, ran out a facile winner from promising debutante Miracle Beauty and solid yardstick Lunigiana.
“She’s a beautiful filly and we’ve loved her since we first saw her at the Arqana Breeze-up,” said Patrick Harty. “She was a little disappointing in the Curragh, but showed today what we hoped she was capable of, winning her maiden and proving herself a stakes filly.”
“She’s bred to stay further and, if the ground stays good, I wouldn’t rule out running her again.”
The Joe Murphy-trained Cercene (5/2) overcame trouble in running before swooping late under Gary Carroll to take the Irish EBF Auction Series Maiden at the expense of favourite Rowdy Yeats.
“She did everything wrong and still won well,” quipped the winning trainer whose assistant and namesake added, “I was never happy through the race, not until the last fifty yards. But we think she’s a very good filly.”
“We have been working back from the Weld Park Stakes, but it might come too soon. The listed race at the Curragh (Staffordstown Stud Stakes) or the auction final here would be other possibilities, but she might be finished for the season. She’s decent and will be entered in both Guineas.”
In the five-furlong nursery, the Michael O’Callaghan-trained Tommy McJohn defied top-weight under Dylan Browne McMonagle, racing up the stands rail and prevailing by a length and a half in a race which saw the field split into two groups.
“Dylan said he got a bit unbalanced,” said the winning trainer, “He’d appreciate more of an ease and a stiff five furlongs is probably what he wants. He’s a small horse and did well to carry that weight (10-0). I’ll look for another five-furlong nursery, or he could come back here for the Birdcatcher.”
In the later GAIN The Advantage Series Nursery, Colin Keane got Brendan Duke’s Mykonian Odyssey in the dying strides to dent Great Mover. It was the second leg of a double for the champion-jockey.
“She’s been running in very good company and we considered running her in the Moyglare,” said Duke. “She’s a filly for tomorrow, but not straight-forward. She’s not a typical Waldgeist, she has loads of pace.” Keane had initiated his double on board 6/5 favourite William F Browne, trained by Ger Lyons, in the one-mile claiming maiden, after which there were no claims lodged.
