Barry Fitzgerald

Leading Royal Ascot fancy A Piece Of Heaven (Fr) (Jukebox Jury {Ire}) will sport a new set of silks when he lines out in the Copper Horse Handicap after Syndicates Racing secured a deal for the potential Melbourne Cup contender to join Joseph O'Brien.  That bit of business comes as a double blow to A Piece Of Heaven's former trainer Barry Fitzgerald as, not only did he lose his flag-bearer in the transaction, but he now finds himself without a yard to train from after a fallout with his landlord...

Barry Fitzgerald may be an under-the-radar trainer but he is by no means unheard of. The County Carlow-based handler registered five winners in Ireland last season and six the previous campaign. What's more impressive is that he was operating at a hugely respectable 10 and 14 per cent strike-rate for those respective campaigns. No mean feat when you're operating with just a handful of Flat horses and working with limited pedigrees every year.  But the quality is on the up in the yard and Fitzgerald, already off the mark this year...