By Sean Cronin
Flag of Honour (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) closed his four-race juvenile season with a victory in Leopardstown's Oct. 28 G3 Eyrefield S., but was winless in the first three starts of this campaign. Third in ParisLongchamp's Apr. 15 G3 Prix Noailles, he dropped to fifth in the May 9 G3 Chester Vase before finishing approximately five lengths behind Study of Man (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) when a close-up 10th in Chantilly's June 3 G1 Prix du Jockey Club in his penultimate start. The bay went to post for Sunday's G1 Comer Group International Irish St Leger at The Curragh returning off a course-and-distance scores in the July 1 G2 Curragh Cup and Aug. 25 G3 St Leger Trial and was sent forward to lead from the outset of the marathon contest. Stoked up off the home turn, the 2-1 market leader maintained a relentless tempo under forceful urging inside the final quarter mile to hit the line 2 3/4 lengths in advance of G1 Irish Derby hero Latrobe (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) with Weekender (GB) (Frankel {GB}) 1 3/4 lengths back in third. “We're delighted with him and it's great credit to the lads at home,” expressed trainer Aidan O'Brien after claiming his second Classic of the weekend. “He's a tough horse, he handles a ease in the ground and stays well. He ran very well early on in France in the Derby trials and when we upped him in trip he really blossomed. He has enough class for a mile-and-a-half and gets the extended distance very well. He's very progressive, he came here and ran against the older horses in his trial and was very impressive. We couldn't be happier with everything he has been doing and he has a lovely mind. This was always the plan, he will handle an ease [in the ground] and even if it got soft it wouldn't bother him. He looks like he could get up to two miles, but whether he gets beyond it and further is another matter. He mightn't need to and picked up today like a horse that doesn't need to go extreme distances. He's in the [G1] Melbourne Cup and we could wait and see, but he's already had a busy time of it. He won over a mile-and-a-half around ParisLongchamp against 3-year-olds and that's what we're thinking about at the minute, but we'll see how he comes out of the race.”
Flag of Honour is the 73rd top-flight winner for his champion sire Galileo (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), who equaled his own sire's mark on Sunday. A full-brother to the hitherto unraced 2-year-old filly Four Leaf Clover (Ire), Flag of Honour is one of 12 winners from as many runners and becomes the leading representative out of a winning half-sister to three black-type performers headed by G3 Prix Fille de l'Air victress Afaf (Fr) (Spectrum (Ire) and MSW G3 Prix d'Hedouville runner-up Zack Hall (Fr) (Muhtathir {GB}). He is also kin to G1 Phoenix S. runner-up and GSW sire Air Chief Marshal (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), MSW sire Misu Bond (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) and G1 Irish 2000 Guineas runner-up Foxtrot Romeo (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}).
Sunday, Curragh, Ireland
COMER GROUP INTERNATIONAL IRISH ST LEGER-G1, €565,000, Curragh, 9-16, 3yo/up, 14fT, 3:05.72, gd.
1–FLAG OF HONOUR (IRE), 127, c, 3, by Galileo (Ire)
1st Dam: Hawala (Ire), by Warning (GB)
2nd Dam: Halawa (Ire), by Dancing Brave
3rd Dam: Hanzala, by Akarad (Fr)
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith; B-Barronstown Stud (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Ryan Moore. €285,000. Lifetime Record: 10-5-0-1, $532,820. *1/2 to Air Chief Marshal (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), GSW & G1SP-Ire, $243,201; Misu Bond (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), MSW-Eng & GSP-Ire, $264,793; Slip Dance (Ire) (Celtic Swing {GB}), MSW & GSP-Eng, $300,543; and Foxtrot Romeo (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), G1SP-Ire, $200,121. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Latrobe (Ire), 127, c, 3, Camelot (GB)">Camelot (GB)–Question Times (GB), by Shamardal. (€88,000 Wlg '15 GOFNOV; 65,000gns Ylg '16 TATOCT). O-Lloyd J Williams; B-Sweetmans Bloodstock (IRE); T-Joseph O'Brien. €100,000.
3–Weekender (GB), 135, c, 4, Frankel (GB)">Frankel (GB)–Very Good News, by Empire Maker. O-Khalid Abdullah; B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd (GB); T-John Gosden. €50,000.
Margins: 2 3/4, 1 3/4, NK. Odds: 2.00, 2.75, 3.00.
Also Ran: Twilight Payment (Ire), Idaho (Ire), Cypress Creek (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
