Progressive Sudirman wins the Railway

Sudirman finished fifth on his debut in the race won by Big Time at Naas last month, but the David Wachman trained colt gained his revenge this afternoon as he took the Group 2 Dubai Duty Free Railway Stakes under Wayne Lordan (double for him after the success of Tarn in the first).

The Fitri Hay owned son of Henrythenavigator won his maiden on his third attempt at Leopardstown just nine days ago, and he was sent off at 5/1 to follow up this afternoon.

Big Time, who hadn’t been seen since his Naas victory, was sent off at 9/2 under Shane Foley for John Murphy and he hit the front inside the final furlong.

However Sudirman soon threw down a challenge on his outside and he got on top in the closing stages, going on to score by half a length at the line. Coach House went off the 8/15 favourite for Aidan & Joseph O’Brien, but after travelling well two furlongs out, he couldn’t match the front duo and he finished a disappointing third, a further four and a quarter lengths behind.

David Wachman said afterwards: "He did it well. He is a bit of a slow learner but he is getting better with every run and he was going away at the line. Maybe a step up to seven furlongs won’t do him any harm.

"Wayne gave him a good ride. I’ll have to speak to the owners about where he will go next. They were thinking about Goodwood but he is a Group 2 winner now so we may have to think again."

Additional reporting by Alan Magee