By Tom Frary
Registering an upset when 50-1 for his impressive winning debut at The Curragh last June, Alexios Komnenos pushed Churchill (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) when a neck runner-up to that luminary in the G3 Tyros S. over seven furlongs here the following month before being sidelined with a potentially catastrophic infection. Nursed back to health with some enterprising vet work, the bay was an encouraging third on his return in The Curragh's Listed Celebration S. over a mile last time July 1 and took a step forward to beat some smart rivals in style. Tardy from the gates, he quickly recovered to track the honest pace set by Custom Cut racing against the rail in third before being produced to challenge the long-time leader approaching the furlong pole. Receiving a smack on the nose with that rival's jockey's whip soon after, he responded gamely to take command and assert from the even slower-starting Music Box.
Trainer Fozzy Stack revealed the problems that the winner and the specialists surrounding him had had to overcome in the prior months. “All the staff put a lot of work into him along with the all the vets at O'Byrne and Halleys–it's a miracle he's here,” he said. “Hopefully he'll be okay in the morning. A week before the National Stakes in September he had an infection in his hind suspensory and so they had to split it to flush it out and even flew in some special maggots from England to get rid of the rest of it. They gave him a 10 percent chance of racing again. It must have been something going around his system. There wasn't a cut or a mark or anything. We'll leave him at a mile for the minute. He was six months doing nothing and it's only his fourth run. He probably doesn't kill himself when he gets to the front, so hopefully he'll improve. The dream lives on a bit longer.” Jockey Chris Hayes added, “He's a very good horse considering the troubles he's had and hopefully he'll stay safe for a couple of weeks and be able to run in the [G2] Boomerang [Solonaway S. at Leopardstown Sept. 9]. My only worry was getting there too soon, as he pricks his ears and drops the revs and when they do that they are vulnerable, but he was by far the best in the race.”
Alexios Komnenos hails from the same Moyglare family as the card's opening race winner Chiara Luna (War Front), with her G2 Ribblesdale S.-winning dam Princess Highway (Street Cry {Ire}) being out of the fellow Ribblesdale heroine Irresistible Jewel (Ire) (Danehill). They descend from the GI Acorn S. heroine Aptostar, a hugely important matriarch for Moyglare Stud with the likes of Royal Diamond (Ire) (King's Best), Mad about You (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire}), Profound Beauty (Ire) (Danehill) and Carla Bianca (Ire) (Dansili {GB}) all under her auspices. Alexiade, who was bought by Drumlin Stud for a bargain 10,000gns at Tattersalls December 2013, has a yearling colt by Canford Cliffs (Ire) and a colt foal by Camacho (GB) to follow.
Thursday, Leopardstown, Britain
INVESCO PENSION CONSULTANTS DESMOND S.-G3, €63,000, LEO, 8-17, 3yo/up, 8fT, 1:43.98, gd.
1–ALEXIOS KOMNENOS (IRE), 127, c, 3, by Choisir (Aus)
1st Dam: Alexiade (Ire), by Montjeu (Ire)
2nd Dam: Aptostar, by Fappiano
3rd Dam: Stark Drama, by Graustark
*1st stakes win. (16,000gns RNA Wlg '14 TATFOA; €28,000 Ylg '15 GOFORB). O-Werrett Bloodstock PTY Limited & Ms Genevieve Britton & David S McGuinness; B-P. Motherway (IRE); T-Fozzy Stack; J-Chris Hayes. €37,170. Lifetime Record: 4-2-1-1, $73,749. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Music Box (Ire), 124, f, 3, Invincible Spirit (Ire)–Liscune (Ire), by King's Best. (90,000gns Wlg '14 TATFOA; 700,000gns Ylg '15 TATOCT). O-Michael Tabor & Mrs John Magnier & Derrick Smith; B-Bernard Cooke (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. €11,970.
3–Custom Cut (Ire), 136, g, 8, Notnowcato (GB)–Polished Gem (Ire), by Danehill. (€5,800 2yo '11 GO11; 100,000gns RNA HRA '12 TA12; 95,000gns HRA '13 TA13). O-Frank Gillespie & Pat Breslin; B-Moyglare Stud Farm, Ltd. (IRE); T-David O'Meara. €5,670.
Margins: 1HF, NO, 3/4. Odds: 6.00, 10.00, 12.00.
Also Ran: Morando (Fr), Intricately (Ire), Diamond Fields (Ire), Flight Risk (Ire), Sea Wolf (Ire), True Valour (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Video, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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