An excellent day for our young stallions during the second day of Irish Champions Weekend on Sunday featured a victory by the Cotai Glory colt King X J for Michael O’Callaghan in the Tattersalls Ireland Super Auction Stakes.
The 27th winner for Cotai Glory, his win pushes his young sire into a clear lead over this year’s European first-crop sires.
King X J was bred by Tom and Hazel Russell out of Star Of Kings, a Sea The Stars relation to Hermosa and Hydrangea. He was offered by us at last year’s Tattersalls Ireland September Sale and resold through our breeze-up draft at the Goresbridge Sale for 100,000gns to trainer Michael O’Callaghan.
Making his second start on Sunday, King X J showed the benefit of his run at the Curragh, holding a prominent position before kicking clear a furlong out and win costly by a length.
“King X J is a 7f or 1m horse but he has a bit of class,“ said jockey Leigh Roche. “I think he's going to be very good. He improved plenty from his first run and he's going to be a smashing three-year-old.”
Cotai Glory is Europe's leading first-crop sire by number of winners, his 27 scorers led by the brilliant Group 2 Prix Robert Papin winner Atomic Force and the stakes placed Eldrickjones, Dig Two and Sophie's Star.
Also at the Curragh, Ebro River - bred by Tally-Ho Stud - ran an excellent third in the Group 1 National Stakes. An outstanding first-crop flagbearer for Galileo Gold, the colt won the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes on his most recent start.