HEAVY rain changed the Curragh going to soft on Sunday, and the time clocked by Order Of St George (by Galileo), when winning the Group 3 Palmerstown House Estate Irish St Leger Trial Stakes, was one you would expect to see on heavy ground.
He trounced seven-year-old Sea Moon by seven and a half lengths and he could play a prominent role in the upcoming Group 1 Ladbrokes St Leger Stakes. He also holds an entry in the Group 1 Palmerstown House Estate Irish St Leger and in the Group 2 Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot in October.
He won only one of his five starts last year, and was a half-length runner-up in the Listed Eyrefield Stakes, but his only defeat from three this term is his short-head loss to Bondi Beach in the Group 3 Curragh Cup in June.
He was bred by Paget Bloodstock and he made $550,000 at the 2013 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Order Of St George is out of Another Storm (by Gone West), who won over eight and a half furlongs as a two-year-old, and he is her fourth stakes winner.
Asperity (by War Chant) won the Group 3 Prix Paul de Moussac over a mile at Chantilly, Sehoy (by Menifee) won a 12-furlong blacktype contest in Sweden, and Angel Terrace (by Ghostzapper) got her best win in an eight and a half furlong-Grade 3 event at Keeneland.
Another Storm’s half-brother Balladry (by Unbridled’s Song) was Grade 2-placed in California before being sent to Dubai, and she has two half-sisters who have achieved success at stud.
Quiet Life (by Sunday Silence) was unraced but is the dam of the star Asian filly Better Life (by Smarty Jones), a multiple champion whose wins include the Singapore Derby, Singapore Gold Cup, and Kranji Mile, all local Group 1 events but only listed as per the International Cataloguing Standards.
The other sister is Strawberry Fair (by Kingmambo) who was runner-up in a mile maiden at Newmarket on the first of five starts and whose daughter, Midsummer Fair, (by Tanino Gimlet) won a Group 2 contest over 10 furlongs at Tokyo three years ago.
Order Of St George represents a successful family but the biggest name in the first few generations of his distaff line is that of his grandam. Storm Song (by Summer Squall) won the Grade 2 Adirondack Stakes, the Grade 1 Frizette Stakes, the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, and the Eclipse Award as US champion two-year-old filly of 1996.
Her half-sister Diamond Omi (by Giant’s Causeway) won the Grade 2 Oak Leaf Stakes at Santa Anita and their unraced half-sister Happy Tune (by A.P. Indy) can count Grade 3-winning sons High Cotton (by Dixie Union) and Symphony Sid (by Unbridled) among her stakes-winning descendants.
Order Of St George has stamina, he has the potential to become a Group 1 star among the Cup horses and a busy role at stud may also be in his future.