Arizona Blaze made the perfect start to his career with a taking win on debut in the Castle Star And Alkumait At Capital Stud Irish EBF Maiden at the Curragh.
Arizona Blaze (Sergei Prokofiev) follows in the hootprints of Bucanero Fuerte with victory in the Irish Flat turf season opener for Adrian Murray and @amoracingltd at @curraghrace ?? pic.twitter.com/sqWXjTopte
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The colt is trained by Adrian Murray and owned by Amo Racing, whose new retained jockey David Egan took the ride after a spell riding for the outfit in America.
Amo and Murray won the same race a year ago with Bucanero Fuerte, who went on to win the Group 1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes.
Arizona Blaze is out of a mare named Liberisque and by Sergei Prokofiev, for whom he was the first progeny to take to the track.
It was therefore a perfect start for the Whitsbury Manor Stud sire also as his son ran a pleasing race to prevail by a comfortable length and a quarter as the 5/4 favourite.
Murray said of the run: “David said he’s a very nice horse with loads of improvement. Hopefully he can build on this and maybe go to Royal Ascot.
“Whether he’ll have a run in the meantime we’ll have to wait and see.
“He rolled around a bit on the ground and will improve on better ground.
“He’s a very nice horse at home and we think a good bit of him.
“The further he went the stronger he looked.
“We have about 15 to 20 juveniles to run this year, not all for Amo.”
Real Force came out on top for Gerard O’Leary and Wayne Hassett in the La Celia Wines Handicap over five furlongs.
A 5/1 chance, the grey prevailed by three lengths in a convincing victory and will now take aim at a step up in trip and grade at Cork.
“He’ll go now to Cork for a listed race in two weeks’ time over six furlongs,” O’Leary said,
“He was in great form. We didn’t work him as such but gave him plenty on the heavy sand on the Curragh and got stamina into him as he has natural speed.
“He could stay a mile and is just an athlete.
“It’s his time of the year. We were a little worried as the lads were saying it was gluey but he got through it nicely.”
Paddy Twomey’s Procrastinate was another horse to hit the mark first time out as he took the Bermingham Cameras Of Dublin Maiden under Billy Lee.
The three-year-old is by Siyouni and out of Walk In Beauty and therefore the full brother to Walk In Marrakesh, a Listed winner for Mark Johnston in England before plying her trade with success in America.
Procrastinate started at 2/1 and delivered by three quarters of a length after a battle to the line with eventual runner up Marty The Party.
The trainer said: “I was hoping he’d run a nice race coming here. He’s a horse that we’ve liked and didn’t run last year. Delighted that he was able to do that on debut.
“We came here knowing that he’d be fit but wouldn’t be sharp. I’m happy the way he travelled through the race and picked up. Hopefully there will be plenty of improvement to come when the penny drops.
“I didn’t envisage him being out the first day, but he’d been training well in the spring.
“I think he’ll be fairly versatile ground wise. I thought that he’d handle that ground without wanting it.
“If I can find a winners’ race that would be nice and if not he may have to run in something like the Tetrarch. I think he’ll get a mile.”
Noel Meade’s Money Dancer defied odds of 16/1 to take the Finlay Volvo Fillies & Mares Maiden by a neck under Colin Keane.
The three-year-old is by Belardo and struck at the first time of asking when defeating Aidan O’Brien’s Mayfair, the 13/8 favourite.
Meade said of the chetnut: “She behaved herself better here than she does at home. She’s very bouncy and you have to be wary about her, but she’s always showed us plenty.
“We got her at the back end of last year and the couple of bits of work that she’s done we’ve liked her. We hadn’t really dipped her because she was so bouncy and I wasn’t sure what she would find but she found plenty.
“Colin thought she could go another furlong.
“We’ll try and go for a listed race with her and see how we get on.”
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