FOZZY Stack has already made a bright start to the campaign and with a strong team behind him, things are looking bright for the remainder of the season.
The star of the show could be Alexios Komnenos, who missed a chunk of last season due to a setback, but Stack reports the son of Choisir to have wintered very well and “looks a totally different horse to the one that raced last year.”
Provided the four-year-old gets his favoured good or faster ground, he will take in several of the big races over a mile this season. If conditions are in his favour, he could head to Newbury for the Lockinge Stakes and we may at some stage see him compete in some of the top turf races in America.
Stack has some long-established owners and staff who are the backbone of his team. He said: “We have great owners and staff and we have some very good riders as well. Chris Hayes stepped in last year when Wayne went to Ballydoyle. We still use Wayne but Chris has done well for us and is riding well.”
ACRUX CASS
3yo b c (unraced)
Footstepsinthesand – Golden Mask
Arunas Cicenas
He was entered at Clonmel on Thursday, but the ground was too soft for him so we’ll find another maiden for him over a mile and I can see him getting a mile and a quarter in time. I’d like to think that he’d be competitive in a maiden.
ALEXIOS KOMNENOS
4yo b c (12/316-)
Choisir - Alexiade
Werrett Bloodstock/Britton/McGuinness
He has had his trials and tribulations but he has done very well over the winter and thankfully we have had a clear run with him. We could run him in the Amethyst (Group 3 at Leopardstown) or if the ground was fast, we might go straight for the Lockinge the week after. But wherever he goes, he must have fast ground.
It was amazing what he did last year. We couldn’t do a great deal with him over the winter and we didn’t start riding him out until the end of February and in hindsight we may have ran him back too quick on Champions Weekend after he won the Desmond Stakes. He is a totally different horse this year and we’ll see where we go with him. Later on we might aim at some of those races in America.
Miracle horse Alexios Komnenos provided a remarkable win in last season's Desmond Stakes
ASTROSPEED
3yo ch c (5)
Choisir – Angels Stevens
K M Chiu
He is a big strong horse that has a good attitude and he ran well at Dundalk on Wednesday. I can see him getting a bit further than five and ideally we would have liked to have start him off over six. He missed the kick a bit the other night but he came home well and that run would have brought him on.
BAMBARI
4yo b g (000/448/10-)
Arcano – Blue Dahlia
Richard Barnes
He won a handicap at Dundalk last year and he operates as a lead horse at home. Hopefully he’ll be able to win a little sprint handicap during the summer.
CALIFORNIA YOOHOO
3yo b g (6-37)
Scat Daddy – The Voodoo Youdo
Howard Y S Liang
He is a nice type of horse that wants fast ground. He ran okay in a maiden at Dundalk on Wednesday night and in time, he might be one for handicaps during the summer. He might get six furlongs and he will run away in those sprint handicaps during the summer.
CARLO BIRAGHI
3yo ch c (unraced)
Galileo - Kirinda
Mrs E Irwin & Mrs John Magnier
He is a nice staying type that should come into his own over a mile and a half. He is showing us the right signs at home and once conditions dry out a bit, he will be ready to start off. He is a big raw horse and you’d imagine that he will improve with time.
COURT QUEEN
3yo b f (278831-8)
Choisir – Blue Dahlia
Richard Barnes
She ran well at Navan on her comeback run last month, but she seems to better over a flat/fast five at the likes of Tipperary, Cork or Down Royal. She didn’t get home at Navan but the ground was atrocious that day. She is probably a well handicapped horse and I can see her paying her way over the summer.
GOTTARDO
3yo b g (725-315)
Choisir - Chantarella
Peter Piller & Mrs John Magnier & Mrs T Stack
He won well at Dundalk last month and he has developed into a nice little sprinter. He was beaten at the same track on his previous run but the race may have come a bit quick for him. He should pay his way over five and six furlongs and I’d say he’ll want nice ground. He is a horse that should improve with racing as those sprinters don’t take a lot of work and hopefully he will pay his way in sprint handicaps during the summer.
HARVESTFORTHEWORLD
3yo b/br f (2-1)
So You Think - Israar
Mrs P Shanahan & Mrs M V Magnier & Mrs W O’Leary
She is a nice filly who won well at Dundalk earlier in the year. She wants fast ground and I’d say she’ll go for the Group 3 1,000 Guineas Trial at Leopardstown. She is in the Oaks and the Coronation so well see how she gets on the next day and we’ll make a plan for her after her next run.
HAND ON HEART
3yo ch f (1)
Mastercraftsman - Insight
Mrs M V Magnier & Mrs Paul Shanahan & Mrs John Magnier
She was supposed to go for a listed race at Gowran last Sunday, but that was called off and we might look at aiming her at that race again at the end of May or we might look at a stakes race before then. She won well at Limerick and she is a nice filly with a good pedigree and hopefully she’ll develop into a stakes filly.
She is a May the 20th foal, so she is not even three yet, and so you’d like to think that there is a good bit of improvement in her. We ran her at Limerick hoping that she’d run a nice race as she hadn’t been on grass, but she went and won well and surprised us a bit. She has no fancy entries but we’ll learn a bit more about her the next day.
IIEX EXCELSA
3yo ch f (0-D6)
Excelebration – Holly Blue
Mrs G A Rupert & Mrs John Magnier & Mrs Paul Shanahan
She won at Cork at Easter and then lost the race, and since then she ran well in the 1,000 Guineas Trial at Leopardstown. She is rated 93 so she has the option of going for a stakes race or we could go back for a maiden. We had her entered in a maiden at Cork today but we didn’t declare and instead we might run her in the Group 3 Athasi Stakes at Naas on Monday. In time we will step her up in trip to a mile or a mile and a quarter. She is a nice filly and she might want a little ease in the ground, although I don’t think she is that ground dependent.
ONENIGHTIDREAMED
7yo ch g (831526-52)
Footstepsinthesand – Pivotalia
New Pension Fund Syndicate
He ran a solid race the last day in the Heritage Stakes at Leopardstown. He is not getting any younger, but he is a pleasure to have about the place and he loves real testing ground. Seven furlongs or a mile is fine for him and we might at some stage try him over a mile and a quarter.
The handicapper has given him a little chance and if he dropped him a little more, we might try him in a couple of premier handicaps. He would have near enough to top-weight, but that is something that I’d consider. He is just very ground dependent and unless we get a wet summer, he’ll get a little break at some stage and we’ll get him back for the back end of the season.
QUEEN RABAB
3yo b f (66-71)
Fastnet Rock – Dame Blanche
Pension Fund II Syndicate
She ran a few nice races at Dundalk over the winter and she was good and brave when she won there on Wednesday. That was her first run in a handicap and you’d like to think that with that experience under her belt, that she will pay her in handicaps this season.
SHIFTED STRATEGY
3yo b g (073236-2)
Choisir – Pure Greed
M A Begley
He ran well on terrible ground at Cork over a mile on his seasonal return and in time I can see him getting a mile and a quarter. We’ll try and win a race with him - whether that is a maiden or a handicap only time will tell. He should develop into a nice type of horse for the summer.
SON OF REST
4yo b c (1532-527)
Pivotal – Hightime Heroine
B Parker
He ran okay behind Downforce on his penultimate start, but it was over at the start the last day as he missed the break back at Navan which you just can’t afford to do. He has spent most of his time sprinting over five and six furlongs but I am tempted to try him over seven in a listed race at Naas on Monday, as if he were to run well, it could well open a lot more options for him.
We put the blinkers on just to sharpen him up, but they were a complete waste of time at Navan as he missed the break. On his day, he is a very smart horse and he ran very well behind Caravaggio in the Group 2 Flying Five at the Curragh last year, but this year he has just hasn’t had the bounce of the ball.
TOOREEN KATIE
3yo b f (2)
Intello – Ultra Appeal
James Martin O’Brien
She is a nice filly and she went close to winning her maiden on her only start at Dundalk last year. She will probably want a mile or mile and a quarter and she would also want a bit of nice ground. She is in the Irish Oaks and I’d like to think that she can win her maiden at least, but we’ll wait until the ground gets a bit faster before running her.
WISHING STAR
3yo b f (3-)
Galileo - Crazyforlovingyou
P J Magnier
She had a good run on her only start at Dundalk last year and she is in a fillies maiden back there tomorrow.
She seems a nice filly and she should come into her own over a mile or mile and a quarter.
We’ve always thought a bit about. She has classic entries and she is also in the Group 3 Blue Wind Stakes. Tomorrow will tell us a bit more about her but we’re hopeful she can go well.
The unbeaten Zihba could run in either the Amethyst or Tetrarch Stakes next
ZIHBA
3yo b c (1-1)
Choisir – Fancy Vivid
Britton/Werrett/McGuinness/Reid Scott
He is two from two at Dundalk and he is a nice horse. He is maturing all the time and we had toyed with the idea of running him in the Craven. We decided not to and we might run him in the Tetrarch or the Amethyst – he holds an entry in the Irish Guineas, but whether he is up to that level, we’ll have to wait and see.
I can see him being best over a mile or a mile and a quarter and you’d hope he will develop into a stakes performer, but we’ll learn a bit more about him the next day.
TWO-YEAR-OLDS
WARGRAVE
(Galileo - Scream Blue Murder)
He goes nicely. He might start off in one of those six-furlong maidens at the Curragh on Guineas weekend. He will get seven in time.
NEVEREVERSAYNEVER
(No Nay Never - Dowager) She did a few nice bits early on in the year and she goes nicely. She is a big, raw filly so we backed off her and gave her a little bit of a chance. She seems to showing all the right signs and she isn’t too far off a run.
Details
Address: Thomastown Training Centre, Thomastown Castle, Golden, Cashel,
Co Tipperary
Telephone: +353 (0) 62 54129
Jockeys: Chris Hayes, Wayne Lordan, Billy Lee, Michael O’Connor and Killian Hennessey.
Numbers: Around 60