Winning the Group 2 GAIN Railway Stakes by three lengths would be exciting enough for most people, for connections of winner Celeron, the performance felt extra special, as their thoughts were all firmly with the late John Fleming, who was part of the New Morning Syndicate before his tragic and untimely passing in April of this year.

Since then, his wife Marian had her heart lifted in early June when Celeron made a winning debut over Saturday’s course and distance, but things did not go according to plan at Royal Ascot, where Michael O’Callaghan’s colt finished 15th in the Windsor Castle Stakes.

Saturday was straightforward, though, as Oisin Murphy positioned the Mohaather colt two lengths behind Carry The Flag, who blazed a trail down the centre of the track, while Tribeca raced alone closer to the stands.

Asked to quicken approaching the two-furlong marker, Celeron led a furlong out, with Confucius (11/10f) and Tribeca either side. Murphy’s mount found an extra gear 110 yards out and was pushed out to score by three lengths. Tribeca finished second, a length and a quarter ahead of the favourite, who finished just a short head in front of 50/1 shot The Scallionator.

Eleanora Kennedy, who makes up the syndicate alongside Marian and Mrs Fetherston, summed up the win when saying: “A Group 2 at the Curragh on a day like this, it couldn’t be better.”

Marian added: “I’m here for one man only and his name was Harvey (John Fleming’s nickname), God bless him, who was the co-owner as well.”

O’Callaghan continued: “Harvey, John, was a massive supporter of our yard and me from a young age and none of this would be possible without him. He kept me going through thick and thin, and this is for him.”

More to come

On Celeron’s win, the trainer commented: “Any day you can get Oisin [Murphy] is a bonus and he gave him a great ride. I was a little bit worried about the trip today – six furlongs looks like his minimum.

“He won his maiden over this trip, but as he steps up to seven furlongs and a mile, we’ll see the best of him. Oisin said he got through today because of his class, and that he found the pace mid-race a little bit hot for him, but he said the horse has plenty of class and that he took plenty of pulling up.

Reflecting on Celeron’s Ascot experience, O’Callaghan said: “He’s a big baby. Ascot just didn’t happen; he was in the gates a long time and the race just got away from him – he was drawn the wrong side.

“He’s bounced back well. We gave him a little break after Ascot, just freshened him up with this race in mind. He’ll probably get a little bit of a rest now and we’ll look for something at the end of August.”

When expanding on future plans, O’Callaghan hinted that the son of Mohaather could shape into a Guineas type, if all went according to plan.

“He’s a horse that’s very exciting and his next run will be over seven furlongs,” he said. “He could be a horse to go a mile next May. He’s a big horse; he’s 16.1 [hands], he’s not made to be a two-year-old, he just has a lot of talent and a lot of natural ability.”