RACING:ANY SCEPTICS questioning the Irish Field St Leger's status in the greater scheme of the bloodstock game would have had a tough job convincing Johnny Murtagh of its comparative irrelevance at the Curragh on Saturday after Jukebox Jury and Duncan ran out a thrilling dead-heat in the final classic of 2011.
Murtagh filled in the final missing piece in his Irish Classic CV and the significance of that was as much written all over his face afterwards as it was during a tumultuous final 1,000 yards in the race when he almost willed Jukebox Jury’s desperate final thrust to secure a share of the spoils.
Duncan was a first Classic for his Irish-born jockey Eddie Ahern and he completed a Leger double for the trainer John Gosden who just half an hour earlier had landed the English version at Doncaster with Masked Marvel. But it was Murtagh, a man who has consistently tasted worldwide success at racing’s very top table for a decade and a half, who seemed to relish it most.
Of course his good mood could only have been helped by a sparkling racing debut earlier in the day by Born To Sea, the half-brother to Sea The Stars and Galileo, whose Blenheim Stakes victory propelled John Oxx’s colt to the forefront of next year’s Classic betting.
The 2,000 Guineas is likely to be Born To Sea’s most suitable classic opportunity and Oxx will give him just one more run this season in next month’s Killavullan Stakes at Leopardstown. But whereas the colt in possession of the most valuable pedigree in world racing is all about precocious speed, Jukebox Jury and Duncan reminded everyone of the good old fashioned virtues of stamina and grit.
Not since Dimenuendo and Melodist couldn’t be split after the 1988 Oaks had an Irish Classic been dead-heated and the dramatic fade of the odds-on favourite Fame And Glory meant Red Cadeaux provided a one-two-three for the cross-channel raiders.
“I thought he was beaten in the last 100 yards as Eddie was coming there strongly, but in all fairness to my lad, typical Mark Johnston, he fought back,” Murtagh said. “It was right on the line and I just felt I had my head down. Eddie asked what I thought and I told him I thought he’d got there. But my head was down so I wasn’t sure. I was glad when I heard the dead-heat. It’s my first Irish Leger so I’m absolutely over the moon.”
The reward for Duncan could be retirement to his owner’s stud but Jukebox Jury is likely to be on his travels with overseas options ranging from the Canadian International in Toronto to a tilt at the Melbourne Cup in Australia in November. Wherever the future holds, though, he will always hold a strong place in Murtagh’s heart, who was also equalling Michael Kinane’s domestic Classic tally of 14.
Next month’s Dewhurst Stakes is a likely target for Power after he followed in the footsteps of some illustrious Ballydoyle names with a defeat of Dragon Pulse in the Goffs National Stakes.
