Afonso De Sousa eases to victory under Joseph O'Brien© Photo Healy Racing
The drying ground (officially good, good to soft in places) at Leopardstown proved much to the liking of Afonso De Sousa who justified strong support on his third outing in the opening juvenile maiden and he could yet take high ranking among the powerful Ballydoyle team.
Joseph O’Brien elected to make all on the son of Henrythenavigator, well-backed on track from 8/13 to 4/9, and the half-brother to Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Big Brown drew right away in the straight to beat Angela’s Dream (16/1) by nine lengths. Dont Bother Me (33/1) was a further length and three quarters away in third, with Jim Bolger’s newcomer Teoranta fourth.
Aidan O’Brien said, “The better ground made all the difference as Henry hated soft ground. That’s the first bit of reasonable ground we’ve got in a while.
“The Phoenix Stakes could be a possible target for him now.”
Stan James have cut the winner into 20/1 (from 33/1) for next year's 2,000 Guineas.
