Arizona Blaze, Precise get BC bids; Zavateri wins at Curragh

Arizona Blaze rebounded from last month’s 11th-place finish in the Nunthorpe (G1) by taking advantage of yielding turf to win Sunday’s Group 1, $US$469,380 Flying Five Stakes, a straight, five-furlong sprint for open company at the Curragh in Ireland.

The race also served as one of the two win-and-you’re-in qualifiers on the card for the Breeders’ Cup. Arizona Blaze earned a berth in the one-turn, five-furlong Turf Sprint on Nov. 1 at Del Mar.

Ridden by David Egan for trainer Adrian Murray, 3-year-old Arizona Blaze (5-1 in the World Pool) rated early from third place in the field of 15. The Sergei Prokofiev colt out of Equiano mare Liberisque worked the middle of the course to take the lead from early pacesetter Bucanero Fuerte (9-2) in the final quarter-mile. Arizona Blaze ran on to a one-length win at a time of 59.03 seconds without a run-up.

Nighteyes (20-1) with Daniel Tudhope riding for trainer David O’Meara rallied to finish second. Bucanero Fuerte with Colin Keane for Murray held for third. She’s Quality (8-1), trained by Jack Davison and piloted by James Ryan came in fourth.

Asfoora (3-1), the post-time favorite who had beaten Arizona Blaze by six lengths in the Nunthorpe, never took to the ground and finished seventh.

Arizona Blaze is owned by AMO Racing and Giselle De Aguiar. He has a record of 17: 6-4-4 including a group win this year in France and one other at the Curragh.

Precise rallies to take Moyglare Stud

Precise made a late run to collar her Aidan O’Brien stablemates to win the US$469,380 Moyglare Stud (G1), a seven-furlong turf dash for 2-year-old fillies.

The victory came with an automatic invitation to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on Oct. 31 at Del Mar.

Ridden by Ronan Whelan, Precise (5-1) traveled fourth in the field of seven while betting favorite Composing (4-5) and Beautify (9-1), both trained by O’Brien, set the early pace. Precise made her winning move just before the final furlong en route to a winning margin of three-quarters of a length.

Beautify and jockey Dylan McMonagle finished second, Venetian Sun (9-5) with Clifford Lee up for trainer Karl Burke closed to take third, and Composing with Christophe Soumillon settled for fourth.

The final time was 1:29.13.

By Starspangledbanner out of Galileo mare Way To My Heart, Precise came into the race with two wins and a second. Her most recent start resulted in a Group 3 victory going seven furlongs Aug. 24 at Goodwood in England. She is owned by Coolmore’s Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier and Michael Tabor in partnership with Westerberg.

Zavateri is 4-for-4 after O’Brien thriller

Undefeated Zavateri battled odds-on favorite Gstaad in a thrilling duel and won by a head in the $469,380 Vincent O’Brien National (G1) covering seven furlongs.

Charles Bishop on Zavateri (4-1) and Christophe Soumillon on Gstaad (4-5) were content to race in the rear half of the field of six 2-year-old colts. Gstaad, trained by O’Brien, made the first move in the deep stretch, but Zavateri from Eve Johnson Houghton’s stable stayed in touch and got his head down at the wire with a final time of 1:26.73.

Italy (4-1) and Dorset (16-1), both trained by O’Brien, finished third and fourth in that order.

Owned by Mick and Janis Mariscotti, Zavateri is 4-for-4. He won his first three races in England including a pair of Grade 2s this summer. He is by Without Parole out of Siyouni mare Zeroua.