After showing plenty of promise in a couple of trials the Phoenix Thoroughbreds part-owned Prague put it all together to run out a comfortable winner on debut at Canterbury.
The blueblood son of Redoute’s Choice arrived at the start of the 1200m maiden a well-backed second favourite and produced a performance worthy of the market confidence.
As he had in both trials, Tommy Berry took the ride on the Maher racing trainee and was keen to be up with the pace as the gates pinged back. Hustled and then settled in third off, what looked, a moderate pace the juvenile colt relaxed into a nice rhythm. Entering the top of the home straight there was a moment the winning pair seemed to be trapped on the rail until they barrelled through a gap and into open space. With the straight opening up before him, Prague had a good look at the crowd before moving away from his rivals to score by two-lengths with his ears pricked.
“It was a nice start to his career, but we expected something pretty similar to that – he’s impressed us at home,” explained Berry. “His first trial was nice and strong, but in his second I would have liked him to chase the winner a little bit more and that’s why the winkers went on today – to sharpen him up a little bit. He jumped and travelled really well for me today. He pushed out on the corner and put it away quite quickly,”
It won’t have escaped the notice of connections that Prague was winning the race won last year by future Group One winner Castelvecchio. With that in mind, all those associated with the horse will be pleased that his rider feels there is plenty more to come from the colt.
“He’s a real athlete, really clean winded and he’s doing everything on natural ability at the moment. Continued the jockey. “He’s going to be one of those horses that in three months time you’ll see the best of him.”