There was an element of doubt in the betting market beforehand and in the race itself for a few strides as Mehmas loomed large, but in the end Churchill had the most staying power to come home alone and provide an 11th success in this prestigious affair for Aidan O'Brien. Marginally more impressive each time he has recorded his successes in Royal Ascot's Listed Chesham S. June 18, the G3 Tyros S. at Leopardstown July 21 and the G2 Futurity S. at The Curragh Aug. 21, the imposing bay was keen initially in third with Mehmas positioned on his outer. Squeezed between that rival and Lockheed approaching the quarter pole as Frankie Dettori leaned in when making his move, Churchill held his ground and with one smack gained the lead with a furlong remaining before staying on for an authoritative win as Mehmas faded fast.
Newmarket in the spring is first and foremost in the minds of connections, with the winner being like the 2014 National hero Gleneagles (Ire) one of the faster of the Galileos. Jockey Ryan Moore is one of his biggest fans. “He's a very exciting colt. He's done nothing wrong his whole life and I'm sure there'll be plenty more to come from him in the future,” he said. “He has plenty of pace. Mehmas has won two group twos over six and when he came to me he found plenty. I think he has a big future.” Aidan O'Brien added, “He settles and he quickens. He's a very smart horse. He's a big, sleepy lazy horse with loads of speed. He's very exciting and today was a better test, because we put pace on for him. Frankie's horse was laying in on him and he'd every chance to give in, but he shrugged them off and away he went. He looked like a miler, but Ryan said he'd have no trouble getting a mile and a quarter next year. He keeps progressing with racing and will have learned a lot today. We always viewed him as a Guineas horse.” All of Churchill's notable relatives possessed more than a fair share of pace, with his dam finishing runner-up in the G2 Queen Mary S. and 2-year-old and 3-year-old highweight Airwave capturing the G1 Cheveley Park S. and G2 Temple S. and finishing runner-up in the G1 Golden Jubilee S. and third in the G1 July Cup before joining this stable and winning the G2 Ridgewood Pearl S. over a mile. Her half-sister Jwala (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) won the G1 Nunthorpe S. and interestingly, Airwave's daughter of Galileo, Aloof (Ire), was able to win over an extended nine furlongs in the G3 Denny Cordell Lavarack & Lanwades Stud Fillies' S. and managed a second placing in the 10-furlong G3 International S. Meow has two more Galileos to come, an as-yet unnamed yearling filly and a colt foal.
Sunday, The Curragh, Ireland
GOFFS VINCENT O'BRIEN NATIONAL S.-G1, €350,000, CUR, 9-11, 2yo, 7fT, 1:28.28, yl.
1–&CHURCHILL (IRE), 129, c, 2, by Galileo (Ire)
1st Dam: Meow (Ire) (SW-Ire & GSP-Eng), by Storm Cat
2nd Dam: Airwave (GB), by Air Express (Ire)
3rd Dam: Kangra Valley (GB), by Indian Ridge (Ire)
O-Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith & Susan Magnier; B-Liberty Bloodstock (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Ryan Moore. €199,500. Lifetime Record: SW-Eng, 5-4-0-1, $416,897. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Mehmas (Ire), 129, c, 2, Acclamation (GB)–Lucina (GB), by Machiavellian. (62,000gns Ylg '15 TATOCT; 170,000gns 2yo '16 TATBRE). O-Al Shaqab Racing; B-Epona Bloodstock Ltd (IRE); T-Richard Hannon. €66,500.
3–Lockheed (GB), 129, c, 2, Exceed and Excel (Aus)–Clinical (GB), by Motivator (GB). (450,000gns Ylg '15 TATOCT). O-China Horse Club; B-Cheveley Park Stud Ltd (GB); T-William Haggas. €31,500.
Margins: 4 1/4, NK, 1 3/4. Odds: 0.80, 2.25, 11.00.
Also Ran: Son of Rest (GB), Lancaster Bomber, Psychedelic Funk (GB), Finn McCool (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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