Veterinary science contributed greatly to the win of Alexios Komnenos in the featured Invesco Pension Consultants Desmond Stakes at Leopardstown today as the colt credited trainer Fozzy Stack with a second Group 3 success since receiving his trainers’ license this year.

The son of Choisir was today ridden to victory by jockey Chris Hayes who sent him to the front inside the final furlong. The pair held on for a length and a half win over Music Box which was slowly away and also met some trouble in-running.

Alexios Komnenos was a 50/1 debutante winner at the Curragh last year and then failed by just a neck to beat subsequent 2,000 Guineas winner Churchill in the Tyros Stakes in July 2016. However the colt was then absent for a year before making his comeback when third in the Celebration Stakes on July 1.

Stack, who took over the trainers’ license from his father Tommy Stack this year, today revealed “it’s amazing, with what he's been through, to even be here today and a big thanks goes to the staff at home and every vet in O'Byrne and Halleys. It’s a wonder he's here at all as they gave him a 10 percent chance of racing again.

“He had an infection in his hind suspensory and they had to split his suspensory to wash it out and get the infection out; they even flew special maggots over from England to fight the infection.”

He added “it was just an infection and it must have been something going around his system. There wasn't a cut or a mark or anything and it happened just a week or ten days before the National Stakes last year.

“You try to keep suspensorys together never mind splitting them; when you scan it it's still not pretty, it's a mush. 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 and hopefully he'll improve. If he's still in one piece in a few weeks time he'll come back for the Group 2 Boomerang Stakes and we'll leave him at a mile for the minute.

“The dream lives on a big longer and hopefully he's alright in the morning.”

Quotes from Gary Carson