Prendergast doubles up with smart King

King Christophe sprang a 16/1 surprise in the opening race of the four day Killarney July Festival, the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Median Auction Race, providing his trainer Patrick Prendergast with an across the card double having won a maiden hurdle at Downpatrick earlier this afternoon with Wandering Aengus

This son of Duke Of Marmalade finished a well-beaten ninth of eleven behind Gleneagles on his debut at the Curragh last month before he was again well-beaten into third on his next outing at Bellewstown.

Ridden by Declan McDonogh he improved over two furlongs out but was soon short of room.

He found space and was ridden a furlong and a half from home and he kept on strongly inside the final furlong hitting the front close home before going on to score by a length and a quarter. B Cosmos looked the mostly likely winner from a furlong out but he couldn’t hold off the winner and he had to settle for second under Leigh Roche for Willie McCreery at 25/1, while The Ice Meister (4/5 favourite) could only manage a disappointing third under Colin Keane for Ger Lyons.

Prendergast said afterwards of his Sean Greaney owned colt: “He (Wandering Aengus) was well due it and it’s a good day.

"John Egan rode this fellow work at Punchestown one day and said he was very good. Everything went wrong at the Curragh and he met with trouble in running.

"Everything went wrong at Bellewstown as well as he jumped the road. Declan came in and said that he was smart.

"He met trouble in running again today and without it he would probably have won by six lengths.

"I don’t usually run my maidens in winners in races but I had no worries about taking them on.

"I’ll speak to his owner but he might go to the Champions Stakes Sale. If he is as good as the jockeys are telling me maybe I should keep him!"

Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes