Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore combined to win the Group III Meld Stakes (1m1f) at Leopardstown overnight with expensive Frankel colt Diego Velazquez and the Cox Plate was mentioned as a possible target race for the flashy bay three year-old colt.
A Group II winner at his second start last season at two, Diego Velazquez was a good fourth first up in the Group I French 2000 Guineas before being stretched out in trip, but a fading run at Royal Ascot in the Group II King Edward VII Stakes (1m4f) saw him dropped back in distance.
The move proved a winning one as Diego Velazquez powered to the line and ran right away from his rivals to win by seven lengths.
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uo;He ran a lovely race in the French Guineas and then we went to the French Derby with him, Ryan just said maybe over a mile and a quarter we rode him too forward and the pace of the race didn’t work out for him,” said Aidan O’Brien.
“We went to Ascot over a mile and a half and we felt very much coming from Ascot that he’s not a mile-and-a-half horse.
“He’s made like a miler so he’s probably an eight, nine or 10-furlong horse. He loved the ground.
“We ran him back quick because we wanted to know where to go with him in the autumn. Ryan said he has all the class in the world and all the speed in the world.
“He could be a Cox Plate horse and we’ll see what we do in between with him. He’s definitely not short of pace.
“We’re delighted with him. He has a lot of options and at least we know now what to do in the autumn.”
Purchased for 2.4million guineas, Diego Velazquez was the second highest priced yearling at Tattersalls October Book 1 in 2022.
Diego Velazquez was purchased by MV Magnier and White Birch Farm for 2.4million guineas from the Croom House Stud draft at the Tattersalls October Book 1 Yearling Sale where he was the second highest priced horse of the sale.
He is a three-quarter brother to Group I winner Broome and Group II winner Point Lonsdale (who are both by Galileo stallion Australia) and is the third stakes-winner from top producing Acclamation stakes-winner Sweepstake, who has left seven winners from 11 to race.
