Royal Ascot plan for Cotter's 'very good' juvenile Son Of Corballis (11/4) made a fine winning debut today, landing Tipperary's Irish Stallion Farms EBF Race for former champion jockey Declan McDonagh, trainer Kieran Cotter and the Knobel McGrath Partnership. The chesnut son of Raven's Pass broke smartly, raced professionally making all and held Ballydoyle's similarly promising, but green, Edwardian by a length and a quarter. Cotter commented “we knew coming here he was a very good horse. He has loads of speed and he keeps going, and he showed today that he’s very professional. It opens a lot of doors for him, and he could go to the First Flier at the Curragh (May 1) but, ultimately, his longer-term target would be one of the Royal Ascot races, the Windsor Castle Stakes. “He was quick away, very professional, knew his job and, dare I say, it was never in doubt. He’ll stick to five furlongs for the time being. There’s no need to go further and I’d say he’ll be even quicker on better ground.” He added “he was bred by Jim Ryan, in Milltown — a famous nursery of young stock — and we’ve had his close relations Inflection Point and Zen Silence. It’s an American family, and they’re very quick. He has a great temperament. “We thought, coming here, if his home work was anything to go by, he wouldn’t be beaten.” “He is owned in partnership by Thomas McGrath and Ivan Knobel who are Dublin and London based.”
