Group 3 winner Steel Bull (Ire) (Clodovil {Ire}), owned and trained by Michael O'Callaghan for his first two starts, will contest the Aug. 9 G1 Phoenix S. at The Curragh under new ownership, as he was purchased privately by Chantal Regalado-Gonzalez, Racing Post reported on Monday. The son of Macarthurs Park (Ire) (Equiano {Fr}) will be supplemented to the six-furlong feature. For O'Callaghan, the £28,000 Goffs UK Breeze Up juvenile broke his maiden by 2 1/2 lengths at first asking at Naas on July 22. He followed up in the July 29 G3 Molecomb S. at the Qatar Goodwood Festival to maintain his perfect record and will stay in O'Callaghan's care.
“Mrs. Regalado-Gonzalez has purchased Steel Bull and the plan is that the horse will run in the Phoenix S. at the weekend,” Regalado-Gonzalez's racing manager Bill Dwan told Racing Post. “He was very impressive at Naas first time out, winning by 2 ½ lengths, then he backed that up in better company at Goodwood. He did it the hard way in the Molecomb S., so he looks an exciting prospect and please God he can compete at the top level this weekend.
“The [G1] Nunthorpe has also been mentioned, but we'll take one step at a time. A lot has happened quickly for this horse, so I wouldn't like to predict too far into the future. After the Phoenix, we'll let the dust settle and see what the next option is.”
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.