WHEN Twilight Jet powered away from his Lacken Stakes rivals at Naas last month, Michael O’Callaghan had all the feelings trainers usually have when a big winner arrives.

There was elation for the here and now. There was excitement for what lay ahead. There was plain relief. But above all, there was vindication for his belief in the horse, who many may have doubted coming into 2022 after no less than 11 runs as a juvenile last season. Now, he has a live player for the Commonwealth Cup.

O’Callaghan’s business, like so many trainers, has to be commercially viable. The line between buying and selling has to be a straight and true. In between his first and eighth run, there were plenty of offers to buy Twilight Jet last season, but they never went above O’Callaghan’s line.

Then American owner Michael Iavarone came in to buy 50% of the colt after his Cornwallis Stakes win at Newmarket, on the basis he would run at the Breeders’ Cup and stay in training with O’Callaghan after. That was the best of both worlds, and the Curragh trainer could well reap significant rewards for his patience with the sprinter this term.

“At different stages last season, I was scratching my head with him,” O’Callaghan admits. “In his races, because of the speed he showed at home, we were holding him up and trying to let him go and quicken.

“We finished third in the Gimcrack and Leigh (Roche) couldn’t pull him up after. We were thinking does this horse need further? So we tried seven furlongs in the Champagne Stakes and he was the last horse off the bridle but when Leigh went for him, he just flattened out. We realised then, he didn’t stay.

“At home I was thinking, there is a reason this horse is finishing out his race over six furlongs, and taking an age to pull up after the line, and maybe it’s case that we’re not making enough use of him earlier in the race.

“We went to the Middle Park and I said to Leigh, jump out, let him use his speed and bowl along and quicken, don’t worry about anything else and he ran the race of his life. We then dropped him back to five furlongs for the Cornwallis and he rode him the very same way and he dusted them.”

Breeze-up

Twilight Jet, a €210,000 purchase at the Goffs UK Breeze-Up, just about made the Lacken after a slight setback earlier in the year. That is one reason why his trainer was so delighted with his run but the main cause for optimism, was the newfound strength he displayed to combine his early speed with a finishing kick. That combination proved decisive on the day.

“If you look back at the Middle Park, he had Perfect Power, who is favourite for the Commonwealth Cup, and everything else in the race, on their head just over a furlong out,” O’Callaghan explains. “He just lacked that bit of strength to see out his race, but this year he is stronger and he showed that on a stiff track at Naas, where he saw out the six furlongs fine.

It’s nice to be going there with chances and it would mean a hell of a lot if one of them hit the back of the net.”

“Leigh said that he had a massive heave two furlongs out and that he’d never felt anything like it, the horse’s lungs completely expanded, he filled himself up and quickened on, ran through the line and then the same thing again, he couldn’t pull him up after.

“His work at home since Naas is the best it’s ever been and to be honest, if he puts up the same kind of performance or just improves a little bit from it, I can’t see anything catching him in the Commonwealth Cup. Everyone in the yard is so excited for it.”

Twilight Jet is the captain of a team that could range to as many as nine horses for O’Callaghan at Ascot. Needless to say, this is a huge week for the Curragh trainer, who has invested heavily into breeze-up produce again this term.

Indeed, while the action for many begins on Tuesday, O’Callaghan’s week begins in earnest on Monday, where he has first-time-out winners Harry Time and Crypto Force, both recent breeze-up purchases, are entered in the Goffs London Sale, held at Kensington Palace.

Harry Time won smartly at Navan and is reported to have improved significantly ahead of his bid for the Coventry Stakes on Tuesday. He’s exciting, but there could be even more upside, if you’ll pardon that pun, to Crypto Force, who completely outran market expectations in what looked a hot Curragh maiden at the start of this month.

He’s in the Chesham next Saturday, and O’Callaghan speaks glowingly about his debut win, reporting the phone has been busy since.

“The way the race was run, they went steady, he missed the break and was slow away, he was five lengths away from them,” he explains. “When horses are quickening and you’re five lengths down on them, you’ve to make up that five lengths while they’re quickening just to lay up with them, and then try to quicken by them again.

“All the talk was of Aidan’s horse (Auguste Rodin) after but Colin (Keane) came in and said our horse was green, he ran about a little bit but when asked to go about it, he quickened up very smartly and in the last 100 yards, he was just idling, he pricked his ears.

“He’s a very exciting horse and anything he does this time of year is going to be a bonus because he’s bred to be a three-year-old, he’s by Time Test out of a Galileo mare, so he’s bred for next year.”

Needless to say, these are exciting times for the Kerry native and his team, who have numerous other chances (written about in box above) next week.

“For every flat trainer in Europe, Royal Ascot is the Olympics,” O’Callaghan asserts. “I possibly have some of the best horses I’ve ever had now, and to be bringing them to Ascot in such good form, it’s really something to look forward to. Hopefully we don’t come back with our tail between our legs, that can happen at Ascot, but it’s nice to be going there with chances and it would mean a hell of a lot if one of them hit the back of the net.”

Crispy Cat is a bit of a dark horse because he got beat at Sandown the last day but he’s very, very smart. All three races he has run in this year, he’s had to go and commit early and do all the donkey work a couple of furlongs out. I’d say it’s very likely he’ll run in the Norfolk, where he’ll be able to sit and follow fast horses which will take him into the race. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s bang there. He’s very talented.

Olivia Maralda was the fastest horse at the whole Craven Sale and I think she has sharpened up an awful lot since her first two starts. We’re probably going to have a crack at the Queen Mary, because you need a bit of pace but you need a bit of class.

Mehmar will run a big race in the Windsor Castle. He has followed a similar path to Twilight Jet and ran second in the same Tipperary race - but he was giving the winner 7lbs and the third 9lbs. We just thought that day that he hit the line so strongly that he just wants a really strongly-run five furlongs. Just this week, MyRacehorse, the American micro-share ownership model, bought into him and he’s going to run in their colours, so that is exciting.

I’m hoping Malex gets into the Britannia. He’s been pitched in at the deep end after he won his maiden first time out but his inexperience probably was the main factor for his run in the Tetrarch and Irish 2000 Guineas. He has a lot of ability and off a mark of 98, I think he can run a very big race.

Both Fastnet Crown and Great Max are in the Hunt Cup. If Fastnet Crown gets in, he’ll run. He’s rated 92 so he might just struggle. There’s also the Buckingham Palace that I may run Great Max in, and if Fastnet Crown doesn’t run, he’ll run in the Buckingham Palace as well. Great Max has a lot of talent and we think he’s getting sharper.