Battle Of Marengo sprints away to win at Gowran Park© Photo Healy Racing
Battle Of Marengo the only runner in the seven furlong two-year-old maiden holding Group 1 entries, duly got off the mark with an emphatic 11-length success.
On his first start the Aidan O’Brien-trained colt shaped with plenty of promise when running third to Don’t Bother Me at Leopardstown. He was nearest at the finish that evening.
In today’s outing, Joseph O’Brien sent him into an early lead and he had the others at work over two furlongs out. At the two furlong pole O’Brien asked him to go and win his race and the acceleration he showed from a furlong out was eyecatching.
He readily justified 4/5 favouritism, though was available at 6/4 this morning. Flameseeker who was reluctant to load the stalls, came in second under Fran Berry at 7/1, while gamble of the race Janna’s Jingle (8/1 to 7/2) took third to reward the each way money.
Joseph O’Brien said: “That was grand and he improved from his first run. He showed a good attitude.
“He handled the soft ground well. We were worried about the ground beforehand, but when you can do that on soft ground we’ll be looking forward to getting some good ground for him.”
Battle of Marengo holds entries in the National Stakes, Racing Post Trophy and next year’s Epsom Derby.
(on course reporting by Donal Murphy)
