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The Group 1 Phoenix Stakes is the highlight of Saturday’s card from the Curragh, with exciting juveniles such as Bucanero Fuerte, Unquestionable and Porta Fortuna entered.
The race experienced an Aidan O'Brien domination between 2005 and 2017, with the Master of Ballydoyle winning ten of the thirteen renewals. Yet in the last few years, it has opened up to other trainers with Martyn Meade (Advertise), Ger Lyons (Siskin), Jessica Harrington (Lucky Vega) and Hugo Palmer (Ebro River) winning one apiece.
The Amo Racing owned Bucanero Fuerte could take advantage of the absence of Royal Ascot foe River Tiber. An impressive Curragh maiden winner, the colt was always prominent in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes and stayed on well to finish third in a twenty-runner field. In the course and distance Group 2 Railway Stakes, he produced a late rally to deny the re-opposing Unquestionable by a short head. A full-brother to Group 1 Prix de l'Abbaye hero Wooded, the son of Wootton Basset has the pedigree to match his ability and will undoubtedly feature in these top juvenile sprints for the remainder of the season.
Another son of Wootton Bassett, Aidan O'Brien's Unquestionable will be looking to reverse the form of the Group 2 Railway Stakes. A well-beaten third on debut at the Curragh, the colt improve for the step up to six furlongs when beating the useful Mr Saturday by four-and-a-quarter lengths. He made all, repelling the late challenge of the second-placed horse at two furlongs out before racing clear. Unquestionable had no excuses for the defeat in the Railway Stakes, but the short winning margin (short head) suggests the top two in the market are fairly closely matched.
The unbeaten Porta Fortuna steps into open company for the first time, having raced against her own sex exclusively in three starts to date. A neck winner on heavy ground on debut, she seemed to improve for the switch to a sounder surface when taking the Group 3 Fillies Sprint Stakes at Naas on her second start. At Royal Ascot, the daughter of Caravaggio lowered the colours of Aidan O'Brien's Matrika in the Group 3 Albany Stake when scoring by a length. The form has since been boosted with Matrika taking the Group 3 Aerlie Stud Stakes in easy fashion on her subsequent start.
Of the longer priced runners, Jessica Harrington's Givemethebeatboys is possibly underrated in the market, having only finished three-quarters of a length further back in fourth behind Bucanero Fuerte in the Group 2 Coventry Stakes. The Bungle Inthejungle colt had won the Group 3 Marble Hill Stakes on his previous outing with the re-opposing His Majesty half-a-length back in third. Bucanero Fuerte has subsequently beaten the same opponent by four-and-a-half lengths, but using His Majesty as a yard-stick is not taking into account that Givemethebeatboys is open to progression after his Royal Ascot experience.
WIN: GIVEMETHEBEATBOYS