Bar One Racing Flying Five Stakes (Group 1)

KIA Joorabchian suggested earlier this season that the Curragh hadn’t been a lucky place for him, but what a difference a few months can make. Arizona Blaze gained a richly deserved first Group 1 success for Amo Racing in the Bar One Racing Flying Five Stakes - meaning Joorabchian’s ownership operation has now won both of the Curragh’s top-level sprints in 2025.

Retained jockey David Egan had a tough call to make as to whether he’d ride the Commonwealth Cup runner-up or the same connections’ Curragh specialist Bucanero Fuerte, and his decision proved an inspired one. The Adrian Murray team had both of their senior sprinters right at the top of their game for this €400,000 event, and the pair finished first and third, split by a running-on Nighteyes in second.

With Bucanero Fuerte having returned from a spell at stud when failing to successfully cover a single mare earlier this year, and Arizona Blaze a stallion prospect, this was a massive win in more ways than one for the front-running three-year-old, who struck by a length.

An emotional Joorabchian said: “I’m so happy for this guy, and I’m so emotional about it because he deserves it. He’s been just beaten in Group 1 races and today was his day. David is riding unbelievably, and he has such a positive energy that he’s given us so much confidence in the whole operation.

“What an amazing job Adrian and Robson [Aguiar] have done with him. They have never lost belief in him, even when he’s ran so-so. He’s so tough. It was a very tough decision for David whether to ride him or Bucanero. We knew Arizona is a stallion prospect and that’s what did it for him.”

Egan, who was aboard Power Blue for Amo when winning the Group 1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes earlier this season, added: “The bit of ease in the ground helped. It was the best form I’ve ever felt him in.”