Knight To King was worthy of being put in the notebook after an impressive debut success at Gowran Park on Monday.
Knight To King was worthy of being put in the notebook after an impressive debut success at Gowran Park on Monday.
Ridden by Chris Hayes, the three-year-old started favourite for the maiden over 1m 1f and produced a seven-and-a-half length victory on his first racecourse appearance, ahead of Mr King (also owned by Newtown Anner Stud Farm Ltd.) with Lygon Street in third.
Trained by Dermot Weld, the three-year-old colt is by Kingman out of Nightime, a Galileo mare who won the 2006 Irish 1,000 Guineas for the same trainer.
The trainer Dermot Weld spoke positively about the colt after the race and said:
"He's a really nice colt, he had been working exceptionally well. All the family take a little bit of time and we're in no hurry with him,"
"He's come forward in the last few weeks. He's a very good actioned horse, so I didn't bother with him in the spring on heavy ground. Please God, we've lots to look forward to.
"It's a great family for us and he's always shown us talent. He was very immature, mentally and physically but he's coming forward nicely.
"I'll have a chat with Maurice Regan and we'll decide where we go with him. I won't make any decision until I see how he comes home and comes out of the race.
"Obviously we'll go into stakes level with him now, there are many ideas in my mind.
"He was out there in front, he has a lot to learn. I think he jumped the road and Chris said he looked at everything. He'll learn a lot today and he's a really good colt in the making.
"He showed so much pace the other morning that I was surprised, in some ways, but he's bred to get a mile and a half.
"The reason that I came here today with this colt is because it's beautiful ground here in Gowran."
At the time of writing, Knight To King holds an entry in the Group 1 Irish Derby at The Curragh on Sunday 2 July.
