With stakes racing for two year-olds in Sydney and Melbourne on Saturday the race towards the Blue Diamond and Golden Slipper is in full swing, but well worth watching will be the two year-old maiden at Canterbury this evening which features the debut of the full brother to Royal Ascot hero Merchant Navy.
Fastnet Rock colt Setanta was a $2.3million Inglis Easter purchase from the Segenhoe draft for Aquis Farm and is trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace.
Setanta has had three trials and in the most recent was a narrow winner over Breeders Plate winner Global Quest, who resumes from a spell on Saturday in the Group III ATC Canonbury Stakes.
He runs in blinkers tonight and has Tommy Berry on board, so will have every chance to succeed, but will need to be good to emulate the achievements of his brother Merchant Navy.
Click here to see the field for tonight.
Trained by Ciaron Maher, Merchant Navy started his career a little later making a winning debut as a two year-old in early March and then won his next three starts in succession before finishing unplaced in the Golden Rose.
He rebounded to win the Group I VRC Coolmore Stud Stakes as a spring three year-old and was third in the Group I VRC Newmarket Handicap before transferring to Aidan O’Brien, for whom he won the Group I Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Merchant Navy retired with seven wins from 10 starts and has covered some 400 mares in his first two seasons at Coolmore Australia at a fee of $55,000.
