There were a few nervous moments for connections of Siskin (First Defence) as Friday’s G1 Irish 2000 Guineas unwound, but class ultimately told in the first Curragh Classic of 2020 to end Ger Lyons’s agonisingly long wait for his red-letter day. Unbeaten on Irish soil last term, having captured the important juvenile staging posts of the G2 Railway S. and G1 Phoenix S. here, Khalid Abdullah’s homebred had lost his head in the stalls at the start of Newmarket’s G1 Middle Park S. to put a question mark into the minds of those around him. Slightly awkward from the stalls here having been hooded for loading, the 2-1 favourite was the picture of professionalism thereafter and the only concern was whether he could escape a pocket on the rail in the straight. Luckily, Colin Keane has all the makings of a future Irish star jockey and the assured 25-year-old dug Siskin out of the hole to swamp Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) with time to spare. At the line, he had built a 1 3/4-length margin over the eye-catching Vatican City (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who denied Lope Y Fernandez second by 3/4 of a length.
“This means everything, it means 30 years’ hard graft for everybody–to win a Guineas was always my number one and hopefully it’s the first of many,” Lyons said. “I’m delighted with the support we are getting from owners and the quality has increased year on year. That was hard work and full credit to Colin Keane. You don’t get a Guineas handed to you and they both stood up when it was needed. If there was a kink in that horse, then he wasn’t going to go through that gap. Colin is the best there is at the minute. He’s only a kid and he’s going to keep improving. I also want to thank Khalid Abdullah, who is watching in Paris I’m sure. They are the ultimate breeders.”
Siskin showed instant class on his Naas debut as long ago as last May, 13 days before coming here for the first of three contests and coming away with the Listed Marble Hill S. Adding the Railway to his tally in June, the uncomplicated bay again emerged on top in the Phoenix in August despite unsuitably soft ground and a potential disturbance caused by the loose Mount Fuji (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) on the way to the start. What happened at Newmarket on his intended season-closer remains a mystery to all bar him, so out of character were his antics and that episode could only plant a seed of doubt into Lyons’s mind as he prepared all winter long for this moment.
Unproven beyond six and up against a sizeable and classy Ballydoyle contingent, Siskin at least had a favourable inside draw and fast ground to fully complement his acceleration and a confident Colin Keane was happy to let him cruise in mid-division buried against the rail. With Fort Myers (War Front) and Royal Lytham (Fr) (Gleneagles {Ire}) forcing the pace up ahead, the Juddmonte silks could be spotted motionless passing the three-furlong pole behind that duo and another Rosegreen runner in Vatican City. Siskin looked trapped down there as Seamie Heffernan unleashed Lope Y Fernandez out wide two out, but as the latter veered right towards the already-crowded rail the gap came for the favourite and he was on the scene in an instant.
That brief spell of anxiety for watching connections was quickly replaced by elation as Siskin cut down Lope Y Fernandez with as much as 150 yards remaining. From there, he was able to stamp his authority on affairs as Vatican City delivered a taking late surge on his first start outside of maiden company. That runner-up was unable to get out of the crowd as soon as the winner had and so was possibly unlucky not to have finished closer, while Lope Y Fernandez may not have truly stayed the mile as he clung on to third from Armory (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).
Keane, who was riding as if this was his umpteenth Classic win, reflected on what is bound to be a career-changer. “It means the world to win this for the boss–to get a horse of this calibre in the yard is the thing of dreams,” he said. “I am in a very lucky position, I wouldn’t be here without Ger so I’m just happy to pay him back with his first Classic winner. All he does is put confidence in you and he said to ride him like the best horse in the race.” Of Siskin, he added, “The more time we’ve given him, the better he’s become so it’s all worked out. I was little bit uneasy on the rail for a while, but the further he went the stronger he galloped and he has such acceleration. When the gap appeared, I had the horse to get there. The hood seems to help him in the stalls, so fingers crossed that will keep that at bay. He got the mile well today.”
Lyons admitted to some understandable jitters as he pondered this big day during the winter spell. “I was worried about this horse’s trip around February and March, but when we went into lockdown then I was confident that the mile wasn’t an issue,” he explained. “If we were a sprinter then we were in trouble, because we weren’t quick enough. He’s a very easy horse to train and no question he’s the best I’ve trained. We’ll probably go to Goodwood next for the [G1] Sussex, but I want to keep Colin on him and hopefully the 14 days [quarantine] will be gone by then. We are definitely skipping Ascot. We’ll have a chat about it, but that was the plan providing he was good enough today. I know he gets the mile and I wouldn’t draw a line through 10 furlongs at the moment.”
Siskin is the second foal out of Bird Flown (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), who scored over seven furlongs on soft ground at Clairefontaine for Andre Fabre in 2013. She is a half-sister to the strong-staying listed scorer and G2 Hardwicke S. runner-up Barsanti (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}) and to the dam of the multiple grade I-winning champion Close Hatches and the aptly-named GI Kentucky Oaks third Lockdown by Siskin’s sire First Defence.
Close Hatches also went on to produce Tacitus (Tapit), who took last year’s GII Wood Memorial and GII Tampa Bay Derby and was also third in the GI Kentucky Derby and runner-up in the GI Belmont S. The listed-placed second dam Silver Star (GB) (Zafonic) is a full-sister to the G1 Dewhurst S.-winning champion Xaar (GB), while this is also the family of the GI United Nations H. hero Senure (Nureyev), the group 1-winning sire Cityscape (GB) (Selkirk) and high-class sprinter Bated Breath (GB) (Dansili {GB}). From the dam line of the blue hen Monroe (Sir Ivor), Bird Flown’s 2-year-old filly is by Flintshire (GB), who has also provided her with a colt foal, while her yearling filly is by Noble Mission (GB).
Friday, Curragh, Ireland
TATTERSALLS IRISH 2000 GUINEAS-G1, €250,000, Curragh, 6-12, 3yo, 8fT, 1:38.49, g/f.
1–SISKIN, 128, c, 3, by First Defence
1st Dam: Bird Flown (GB), by Oasis Dream (GB)
2nd Dam: Silver Star (GB), by Zafonic
3rd Dam: Monroe, by Sir Ivor
O-Khalid Abdullah; B-Juddmonte Farms Inc (KY); T-Ger Lyons; J-Colin Keane. €145,000. Lifetime Record: 5-5-0-0, $492,325. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Vatican City (Ire), 128, c, 3, Galileo (Ire)–You’resothrilling, by Storm Cat. O-Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith; B-Coolmore (IRE); T-Aidan O’Brien. €50,000.
3–Lope Y Fernandez (Ire), 128, c, 3, Lope de Vega (Ire)–Black Dahlia (GB), by Dansili (GB). (€900,000 Ylg ’18 ARAUG). O-Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier & Michael Tabor; B-SF Bloodstock LLC (IRE); T-Aidan O’Brien. €25,000.
Margins: 1 3/4, 3/4, NO. Odds: 2.00, 14.00, 4.50.
Also Ran: Armory (Ire), Fiscal Rules (Ire), Sinawann (Ire), Monarch of Egypt, Royal Lytham (Fr), Fort Myers, Rebel Tale, Free Solo (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
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