The Phoenix Vol.38 No.13

THE PHOENIX JULY 3, 2020 27
SOCIETY H STAGE H SCREEN H SEX H SOUNDS H SPORTS H SIGHTS H SOCIETY
SPORT OF KINGS
LUKE COMER’S
FORM BOOK
LUKE COMER doesn’t appeal
as a candidate for champion
trainer this season if the exploits
of his early season runners
are anything to go by. He may
yet have a tilt at
the Irish St Leger
though.
Comer
unleashed a number
of last autumn’s
expensive purchases
in the opening
few weeks of the
season, but heavy
defeats were
inflicted on the vast
majority, despite
several showing
high levels of ability
for their previous
trainers.
Fan Club Rules, a £70,000 buy
last October, was a consistent
performer for previous
connections (only once finishing
outside the top four) but, on his
Luke Comer
first two starts for Comer, he has
been beaten a total of almost 75
lengths in sprint races. Similarly,
All The King’s Men, a winner on
his penultimate start for Aidan
O’Brien last October, before
being purchased by Comer for
,000, finished last on his
stable debut.
The one beacon of hope
for the moneybags property
developer was the performance
of Broad Street, one of only
two of his 20 or so runners
so far to have posted a topthree
placing, finishing third at
the Curragh. Formerly trained
by Dermot Weld for Prince
Khalid Abdullah’s
Juddmonte Farms,
Broad Street was
picked up by
Comer during the
same Newmarket
shopping spree
last October for
£65,000. If his
owner doesn’t
over-face the
horse, he could
prove a decent
money spinner.
Comer has a
habit of getting excited if one of
his charges shows some promise,
regularly tilting at windmills in
major races when the horse
could be winning if kept in its
own grade. The Galwayman also
likes nothing more than having
runners in races he sponsors, so
it is not beyond the bounds of
possibility that we will see Broad
Street charting a course towards
the Group 1 Comer Groupsponsored
Irish St Leger at the
Curragh in September.
FAMILIAR
SOUNDTRACK
AT THE
CURRAGH
THE IRISH Derby weekend at
the Curragh took place alongside
a now familiar soundtrack, akin
to Heuston Station, as the wind
whistled through the €80m
grandstand causing a screech of
alarming decibels.
The design issue that causes
the eerie whine came to light
last year soon after the grand
opening and racegoers assumed
it would have been rectified over
the winter. However, whatever
modifications were put in place
were outmanoeuvred by the
strength and direction of the
weekend breezes.
Probably the biggest talking
point over the three days arose
out of the €,000 fine handed
out by the stewards to trainer
Denis Hogan over the running
of the Noel Hayes-owned
Narynkol. Narynkol finished a
close fourth under very tender
handling from apprentice rider
Alan Glynn, who claimed that
he got his whip tangled in the
horse’s mane, which prevented
him from giving the 50/1 shot a
more vigorous ride.
The stewards did not accept
this as a valid excuse and banned
the rider for 12 days, while also
imposing the hefty fine on Hogan
over the alleged breach of the
non-trier rule 212.
Hogan has indicated his
intention to appeal the fine and
it could be a busy period for him
on the appeals front. The Irish
Horeseracing Regulatory Board
investigation is continuing its
inquiry into Tony The Gent’s run
at Dundalk in March, when two
Hogan runners finished in the
order that a late betting plunge
suggested they could, despite the
differential in the rating of each
horse.
Elsewhere at the Curragh,
the ironically named Godolphin
filly Feminism would have been
a topical winner of the maiden
on Friday, but was beaten
just a head by the Jessica
Harrington-trained Bearberry.
Given Sheikh Mohammed al
Maktoum’s high-profile marital
issues in the past six months, it is
surprising the naming of this filly
wasn’t deemed a tad sensitive for
his highness.