Aidan O’Brien has plenty of entries for feature Australian spring races and among them is Galileo three year-old Grosvenor Square, who scored a resounding 20 length win in the Group III Irish St Leger Trial Stakes (1m6f) at the Curragh overnight.
A Group III winner last year at two, Grosvenor Square has taken a while to hit top gear this preparation although a last start second to Tower of London in the Group II Curragh Cup put the writing on the wall.
Ridden by Ryan Moore, Grosvenor Square controlled this race from the outset and galloped away in relentless style from his rivals to win by daylight with the beaten brigade including last year’s Melbourne Cup seventh place-getter Absurde, who finished in fourth place.
“Grosvenor Square has serious stamina when he gets into a rhythm, he's an exciting horse. It's hard to know what to do against this horse, do you follow him or don't you. Ryan said he was far from finished, he galloped right through the line,” said Aidan O’Brien, who will now need to decide between the English and Irish St Legers for Grosvenor Square.
“It's very hard not to go to Doncaster after that. He is a very uncomplicated horse. He handled that ground and he handles soft ground well.”
Raced by the Coolmore partners, Grosvenor Square has three wins and three placings from seven starts and is a half-brother to Group I Irish Derby winner Santiago. He is the second stakes-winner among four winners from Wadyhatta, a half-sister by Cape Cross to stakes-winner Motamarris.
