Madhmoon ready for Doncaster next month
KEVIN Prendergast is in no rush to firm up future plans for Madhmoon following his impressive display at Leopardstown on Saturday.
The Dawn Approach colt made a big impression on his racecourse debut at the Dublin venue last month and followed up in some style in the Group Two KPMG Champions Juvenile Stakes on Irish Champions Weekend.
Prendergast said in the immediate aftermath that he would discuss with owner Hamdan Al Maktoum whether to give Madhmoon one more outing this season in the newly-named Vertem Futurity Trophy — formerly the Racing Post Trophy — at Doncaster on October 27.
However, those talks are on hold for the time being.
Prendergast said: ‘He’s come out of the race very well and we’re very happy with him. ‘We haven’t really discussed plans yet. The Doncaster race is still over five weeks away and a lot can happen in that time.
‘He won very well. The ground was extra fast and a couple of those good horses found that out.’
Prendergast is no stranger to big-race success, of course, having had an array of topclass horses pass through his hands since first taking out a licence in 1963.
The 86-year-old’s first of eight Classic successes came with Pidget in the Irish 1,000 Guineas in 1972.
Northern Treasure gave Prendergast his first Irish 2,000 Guineas win in 1976 and Awtaad gave him a second victory in the race 40 years later. Asked how Madhmoon compares to some of his former champions, Prendergast added: ‘It’s always difficult [to compare horses] as they’ve all got different temperaments and things like that.’
Madhmoon is a 20-1 shot for next year’s 2000 Guineas at Newmarket and around 25-1 for the Investec Derby at Epsom.