Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Bolshoi in pole after triumph
BOLSHOI BALLET boosted his Cazoo Derby prospects with a workmanlike win in the Group 3 P W Mcgrath Memorial Ballysax Stakes in Leopardstown yesterday.
Aidan O’brien’s Galileo colt, last seen in Group 1 company in France last October, went off an easyto-back 2/1 favourite but, always handy, edged ahead before the furlong-pole and, when woken up by Ryan Moore, lengthened well and went away to beat 33/1 shot Flying Visit by two and a quarter lengths giving his trainer an 11th win in the Ballysax.
“You’d have to be delighted with that,” said O’brien, “He only ran in bad ground last year and appreciated today’s conditions. Ryan was happy with him and I expect him to come froward from the run. He’ll probably come
back here for the Derrinstown (on May 9) on his way to Epsom.”
“We always felt that this horse would take two runs before going for the Derby, while High Definition will only have one, in one of the other trials.”
O’brien and Moore went on to complete a double with 9/4 favourite Sir Lamorak in the threeyear-old handicap and set to step-up into a Derby trial.
This week, Ballydoyle will have its first runners of 2021 in Britain, a team spear-headed by Khartoum, winner of a Curragh maiden last October, in Thursday’s bet365 Craven Stakes, a recognised Guineas trial.
Tomorrow, O’brien will run another Curragh maiden winner Arturo Toscanini in the listed Fielden Stakes and Duke Of Mantua in the bet365 Conditions Stakes.