MARIE'S DIAMOND takes a super 2nd in the Group 2 Railway Stakes at The Curragh

Sun 01 Jul 2018

We are extremely proud of our Mark Johnston trained son of Footstepsinthesand, to be just 1/2 a length from the Aidan O'Brien winner on the line, he ran a superb race in the Railway Stakes yesterday.

Mark reports that he’s fine this morning. He’s still over in Ireland and will travel back to the yard on the ferry today.

He actually broke the slowest of the field but Silvestre soon had him in a handy position. He travelled sweetly and there was a point 2 furlongs out when Silvestre asked him to quicken that we thought he was going to win it, but he just couldn’t quite reel back Van Beethoven in the final furlong. Afterwards it came to light that he’d lost his front left shoe during the race.

We’ve firmly put his run in the Woodcote behind us now and with hindsight we would say the ground was the biggest issue and that we got away with it at Leicester because he was just a lot better than his rivals that day. He has shown that he’s a very smart colt, with plenty of speed, but you also suspect that there could be improvement for going up in trip. 

Plenty of his owners were there to cheer him and Silvestre De Sousa back into the winners enclosure and so they should. One of his owners commented "What a wonderful days racing at the Curragh. A big thankyou MPR for providing the thrill of a lifetime." He has already won over £45,000 in prize money for his syndicate, which isn't bad considering we bought him for €35,000 and to be 2nd in a Group 2 is fantastic! Well done everyone and thank you to The Curragh for a fabulous day.

"The Scat Daddy colt dug deep for Ryan Moore to hold the persistent challenge of the Mark Johnston-trained Marie’s Diamond". Read the story and watch the race replay here: http://www.attheraces.com/news/2018/June/30/van-beethoven-hits-the-right-note-to-edge-marie%E2%80%99s-diamond-in-railway-stakes