Ger Lyons
There were a few nervous moments for connections of Siskin (First Defence) as Friday's G1 Irish 2000 Guineas unwound, but class ultimately told in the first Curragh Classic of 2020 to end Ger Lyons's agonisingly long wait for his red-letter day. Unbeaten on Irish soil last term, having captured the important juvenile staging posts of the G2 Railway S. and G1 Phoenix S. here, Khalid Abdullah's homebred had lost his head in the stalls at the start of Newmarket's G1 Middle Park S. to put a question mark into the...
The field for Saturday evening's G1 Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas has been set and 15 fillies are due postward for the €250,000 Classic. The Niarchos family's homebred G1 Prix Marcel Boussac victress and ante-post favourite Albigna (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) will depart from gate 13 while her Jessica Harrington stablemate and G3 Oh So Sharp S. runner-up Valeria Messalina (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) has drawn stall four. Aidan O'Brien saddles just two for this year's renewal with G1 Moyglare Stud S. third So Wonderful (War Front) due to exit the...
The smart gold-braided colours of SBA Racing Ltd, the operation of Prince Sultan Bin Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, were seen on a racecourse for the first time on Wednesday and they were carried with some distinction by an equally smart looking filly by the name of Frenetic (Ire). The daughter of Kodiac (GB) appears as professional as she is precocious and made all the running in Navan's opening five-furlong maiden to give Ger Lyons his first 2-year-old winner of the campaign. That Frenetic is based at the Lyons family's...
Khalid Abdullah's unbeaten Siskin (First Defence) will have 10 rivals to contend with in Friday evening's €250,000 G1 Irish 2000 Guineas at The Curragh after the draw was made on Wednesday. Successful in the G2 Railway S. and G1 Phoenix S. over six furlongs at the track last summer, the homebred is nevertheless on a retrieval mission having been taken out at the start of the G1 Middle Park S. at Newmarket when becoming upset in the stalls. Provided there is no repeat of that, he has a favourable draw...
Last year's G1 Keeneland Phoenix S. winner Siskin (First Defence) remains on course to kick off his 3-year-old season in the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas on June 12. Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to owner Khalid Abdullah, said, "Providing Prince Khalid is happy, Siskin is heading to the Irish 2000 Guineas. [Trainer] Ger [Lyons] has been very positive and again everything has been straightforward and he is going really well. He has progressed well and though he will never be a big horse he has furnished nicely and Ger is very...
Ger Lyons's Glenburnie Stables enjoyed a banner 2019, adding to the 2011 G1 Cheveley Park S. success of Lightening Pearl (Ire) (Marju {Ire}) with a first domestic Group 1 triumph courtesy of Khalid Abdullah's hitherto unbeaten G1 Phoenix S. and G2 Railway S. hero Siskin (First Defence), and the Co. Meath-based trainer is primed for the resumption of racing whenever that moment arrives. "I'm blessed with a beautiful array of horses, I've a lovely bunch of 2-year-olds and a smashing bunch of 3-year-olds, and the team is very much led...
While Ireland's flat turf season is still scheduled to get underway at Naas on Sunday, an announcement is expected by Wednesday afternoon regarding the nation. Britain became the latest European country-following France, Germany, Italy and Spain-to call off racing in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, and it is conceivable that the Emerald Isle could follow suit. With a legitimate Classic contender in his care in Siskin (First Defence), trainer Ger Lyons is no doubt keen to get up and running but said he fears that doing so amidst the...
Defying the rain-softened ground and a trio from Ballydoyle, Khalid Abdullah's Siskin (First Defence) kept his unbeaten record intact as he prevailed from TDN Rising Star Monarch of Egypt (American Pharoah) in Friday's G1 Keeneland Phoenix S. at The Curragh. Held up in fourth early by Colin Keane, the 10-11 favourite cruised into a challenging position on the far side heading to two out where battle was joined with Monarch of Egypt who he had beaten in the course-and-distance G2 Railway S. Looking to be losing out in that tussle...
G2 Coventry S. winner Arizona (Ire) (No Nay Never) was not among the final entries for Friday's G1 Keeneland Phoenix S. when the field for the six-furlong contest at the The Curragh was drawn on Wednesday. The quintet standing their ground is headed by Juddmonte's unbeaten homebred Siskin (First Defence). The Ger Lyons trainee won the Listed Marble Hill S. at second asking over this course and distance on May 24 before adding the G2 Railway S. over the same on June 29. He is reopposed by the Railway second...