Introduced in Albert Einstein's maiden at Naas on Saturday, Ballydoyle's costly colt Confucius (No Nay Never) upstaged that much-vaunted stablemate in terms of winning time to become his sire's 13th TDN Rising Star, Presented by Hagyard.
Out quickly in the near-six-furlong test staged on ground probably quicker than the official description of good, the 1.7million gns Tattersalls October Book 1 purchase who was narrowly denied on debut at The Curragh last month was strong on the clock throughout as he saw off the smart Jack Davison-trained newcomer Alaskan Bear (Kodiac) by 3 3/4 lengths. There was the same distance back to the third-placed Amo runner Bull Shark (Mehmas), who had previously been beaten around the same margin by Ballydoyle and No Nay Never's other juvenile TDN Rising Star of 2026, Great Barrier Reef, at The Curragh.
Other than last year's winner Albert Einstein, Aidan O'Brien had taken this with Johannes Brahms and Van Beethoven in recent times, while the subsequent Irish 2,000 Guineas hero Siskin was also successful in 2019. Confucius eclipsed them all on the clock, with his 1:09.91 an impressive marker of his quality.
“When I asked him, he changed his legs but he got it together a bit quicker than the colt [Carry The Flag] earlier,” Wayne Lordan said of the son of the Cheveley Park Stakes heroine Millisle (Starspangledbanner). “He started to open up going to the line and rides a beautiful colt. He's got a great mind and went down through the line well.”
No Nay Never's dozen prior TDN Rising Stars include the accomplished Charles Darwin, Little Big Bear and Ten Sovereigns. Ballydoyle representative Chris Armstrong was taken by the performance. “He obviously had a lovely run the first day and Ryan liked him,” he said. “Wayne loved him there. He said he has a very good temperament and when he asked him, he really stretched out and the most impressive part was going out through the line. Wayne says that in time he'll have no problem going up again in trip, but he's had the two runs now and he looks a ready made Ascot two-year-old. I'd say he's probably one for the Coventry now and he's a horse to look forward to for the season ahead.”
Pedigree Notes
The aforementioned Millisle, who also has a yearling colt by Siyouni, is a half to four other Stakes performers headed by the dual New Zealand Group 2 winner Gino Severini (Fastnet Rock) who was also placed in the G1 Windsor Park Plate. Also kin to the dam of the G3 Pride Stakes winner Novus (Dandy Man), she hails from the family of the dual champion and leading national hunt sire Old Vic.
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