Colt hands Prince Of Lir with his first stakes
The Lir Jet (2 c ex Paper Dreams by Green Desert) emulated his sire Prince Of Lir (Kodiac) by winning the Norfolk Stakes (Gr 2, 5f) at Royal Ascot on Friday and in the process handed the first-season sire his first stakes winner.
The Michael Bell-trained two-year-old colt who was acquired by Qatar Racing after he broke the track record when he won his maiden by two and three-quarters of a length at Yarmouth.
The colt has since been snapped up by Qatar Racing and looks to be a major player in Friday’s contest. The colt is by first-season sire Prince Of Lir (Kodiac), who won this race in 2016.
The colt showed great heart to win reel in American raider Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) with another three lengths back to Imperial Force (Comacho).
"During the race, I was a bit worried when the leader went so far clear. Oisin [Murphy] obviously thought he had it in control, but The Lir Jet battled,” said Bell. “He is very inexperienced - he had only run the once - and has never had to dig in before because when he won at Yarmouth, he won on the bridle. He has learnt how to race today and I think you will see an even better performance next time, hopefully.
"At Yarmouth he broke the track record, but he did not learn a lot because he went so easy, so today he really had to dig in and learn how to race. I think it's so good when you see a horse with that sort of attitude, and it bodes very well for the future.
"I think he is all speed; he is by a sprinter out of a Green Desert mare. I think he will definitely get six, but I wouldn't be thinking he will get further than that.
"The sire [Prince Of Lir] won the Norfolk [in 2016] on soft ground, so we were quite hopeful with the ground, I did not think that would worry him. He has obviously already won on fast ground, so he is one of those lucky horses that goes on anything.
"My son Nick found him from Robson Aguira, who bought him very cheaply and was going to breeze him up. When the breeze-ups were cancelled Robson and Nick came to an arrangement and the horse came to us. Then Sheikh Fahad was watching Yarmouth on telly and sent me a text asking if he was for sale, and the rest is history. A good bit of business for all involved, and very nice for us to have a good winner for a very important owner - it is high profile for us. Any trainer needs good horses and good winners, especially for big operations like Qatar.
"I am particularly pleased because this is very much Nick's deal and he must take a huge amount of credit.
"My gut feeling is that if The Lir Jet runs in another Group 2, he'll be carrying a penalty, so I'd be inclined to point him at something like the [G1] Prix Morny, but I think we should talk to Sheikh Fahad and David Redvers, and we will come up with a plan.
"The Nunthorpe would be another option, but the balls will go in the air. When you start winning Group races with two-year-olds there is stallion potential, so there are all sorts of things that need to be considered. But if Battaash was to go for the Nunthorpe, I would probably say he should be avoided.
"The Commonwealth Cup would be an obvious target this time next year.
Purchased for £8,000 at the Goffs UK Premier Yearlings Sale having been sold as a foal for €9,500, The Lir Jet is one of two winners from four to race out of Paper Dreams (Green Desert). His third dam is dual Group 1 runner up Papering (Shaadi) whilst further back this is the family of Dylan Thomas (Danehill) and Homecoming Queen.
Prince Of Lir stood at Ballyhane Stud in Ireland for €4,000 this year.
Earlier in the afternoon, Dandy Man (Mozart) sired his 14th stakes winner as his daughter Dandalla (2 f ex Chellalla by Elnadim) won the The Albany Stakes (Gr 3, 6f)
The Karl Burke-trained daughter of Dandy Man (Mozart) is out of three time-winning Elnadim (Danzig) mare Chellalla making her a sister to Cauthen - a winner over 7f. Chellalla herself is a half-sister to Italian Listed scoring filly Konkan (Aussie Rules).
Owned by Nick Bradley Racing & Elaine Burke, Dandalla took up the running well over a furlong from home and never looked in any danger after that point. The 11/4 favourite Sethare (Footstepsinthesand) stayed on to take second, six lengths adrift of Dandalla.
“We were worried about the rain the last 48 hours,” said Burke.
“I walked the track yesterday and it was very wet. We did not have as much rain today, but the ground is tacky. The thing that sort of tempered that was in her work, Dandalla has always been a strong galloper with a turn of foot. She has plenty of stamina on the dam’s side [Chellalla] and I think that came into play today and hopefully that will come into play again in the future with maybe the 1000 Guineas. If Dandy Man (her sire) is going to have a 1000 Guineas winner, it could be her.
“Dandalla has got a great turn of foot and then she keeps on galloping. A few times at the top of the Middleham gallop where we do most of our work, jockeys have been struggling to pull her up. My daughter Lucy earmarked her since before Christmas. She actually came in one day and said ‘I hate to say it, but this filly reminds me of Laurens.’ That will tell you how high she thought of her. She is probably more precious than Laurens – Laurens had not even run at this time during her two-year-old career. She is also speedier than Laurens. The question now is how far we stay, and we have got plenty of time to think about.
“She was entered in the Queen Mary. She obviously won’t run there and that was just in case the deluge came and we thought if it was heavy ground we would go for five furlongs rather than six furlongs. We only declared in the Queen Mary as there wasn’t a maximum field.
“Quiet Reflection was our first Royal Ascot winner and that was a massive result for us. This is a great result and it’s great to get a two-year-old winner here. I think we have done well with the two-year-olds over the last ten years. To go and buy one for €22,000, and our daughter Kelly will be absolutely delighted as she bought her at the sale.
“To buy them, train them, we own half of her – it’s great all round really.”
Regarding possible targets, Burke continued: “The Prix Morny comes into consideration for Dandalla. I have a few nice colts for that which I am considering as well, so we will just have to sit down and have a chat. Today was always the immediate plan. It was always going to be Newcastle and then here so we’ll sit down and think about things. There is no reason why we won’t be looking at Group 1 races for her.
“Time will tell how strong the race is. She has destroyed horses and now you would like to see one of those placed horses come out next time and frank the form and that is what we will be looking first and then take it from there. Either way, we have got a very strong filly.”
A €15,500 foal purchase from the 2018 Goffs Ireland November Foal Sale, Dandalla was then bought by Kelly Burke for €22,000 at last year’s Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale.
