I AM sure many people, like me, were scratching their heads after Angel Above ran out a neck winner over seven furlongs at Dundalk.

Owned, trained and bred by Luke Comer, the three-year-old is from the first crop of Second Thought, a multiple stakes-winning son of Kodiac (Danehill) whose grandam is a half-sister to the four-time Group 1 winner Sky Lantern (Red Clubs). Successful at two in the Moyglare Stud Stakes, Sky Lantern was rated the champion filly at three after wins in the 1000 Guineas, Coronation Stakes and Sun Chariot Stakes. She is now dam of the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes winner Snow Lantern (Frankel).

While Second Thought went to stud in 2019, his location is not listed anywhere I could find, as he effectively stands as a private stallion, covering mares owned by Luke and Margaret Comer. His first crop numbers some 25 progeny, and Angel Above is actually his second winner. That first crop contains just a single horse not bred by Luke or Margaret Comer, and he is Da Acclamation. Michael Rogers and Conor Noone bred him, sold him as a yearling for €3,000, and he won three times in Italy at two last year

Angel Above is the second foal, but the first one named, out of the unraced Captain Phasma (Archipenko). She was one of 14 lots purchased by Luke Comer at the Goffs November Sale in 2017, and at €11,500 one of just four who brought a five-figure sum. A half-sister at the time to three stakes-placed winners, her pedigree got a boost when her half-brother Stormbringer (Dutch Art) won a listed race in France.

The Comers have covered a multitude of mares by a number of their own stallions, and time will tell what becomes of more of them.