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A three-month wait for rain paid off in spectacular fashion for Danny McLoughlin when Magny Cours justified his patient approach by easily winning the Coolmore Stud Little Big Bear Stakes under Ben Coen.
It was a second Group 3 for Ireland’s youngest trainer, who won his first with Duckadilly earlier in the summer and only sent out his first runner in March 2024.
Magny Cours was subjected to extensive pre-race vet checks before her disappointing effort in the Irish 1,000 Guineas in May, and had been off the course since. But the Awtaad filly already had Group 3-placed form and she excelled on the yielding ground to win for the first time at 9-1.
“This win is massive,” said McLoughlin. “It was a long wait on the weather, but it was more than worth it. She put that to bed very professionally. She’s a good-sized filly now and I’d say she’ll really come into herself from now until the rest of the year.”
Now McLoughlin is aiming for Group 1 glory on Arc weekend with his stable star. He said: “She’s entered in the Prix de la Foret and it ticks a lot of boxes. I’d say it’s worth taking a chance over there, so it could be an exciting end to the year with a bit of luck.”
Byrne bridges 30-year gap
They were showing new Father Ted episodes the last time Michael Byrne landed a Pattern race, but Likedbymike brought the big-race drought stretching back to 1996 to an end when winning the Abergwaun Stakes.
Conor O’Dwyer rode Gentle Buck to a Grade 3 victory over hurdles way back when, and this time it was the six-time champion jockey Colin Keane who had the honour of steering the 11-4 favourite to a first Listed success for the Cahir-based trainer.
Likedbymike had gone close in plenty of valuable races this year and Byrne said: “This means everything. We’ve only two horses to run and we ran both of them today. Breeze-ups are our main game.
“There’s a fillies’ Listed race at the Curragh at the start of next month, so that’s probably where we’ll go next. This doesn’t happen very often to us!”
Another Foret bound
Magny Cours could meet a fellow Cork winner in France as Michael O’Callaghan is minded to send his impressive 7f conditions race winner Bamako Beach to Longchamp as well.
Top-rated of the eight-runner field on the back of his seventh in the Irish 2,000 Guineas in May, the colt ran green in the final furlong but overcame a marked drift to the stands’ side rail to score with authority.
“He’s a good horse and one we’ve always liked,” said O’Callaghan. “That was a good race taking on older horses, but he couldn’t have done it much easier. He’s still a big baby. He had only one run as a two-year-old and he finds things very easy.
“We have the Foret in our heads. He’s done everything we could have hoped for, so we’ll take a shot now.”
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Britain’s youngest trainer left ‘ecstatic’ after saddling her first two-year-old winner
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