
Diego Velazquez digs deep to star in Curragh hat-trick for Ryan Moore and Aidan O'Brien
The 11/8 favourite for the Group Two event was always in a handy position under Moore alongside Adrian Murray's Irish 1,000 Guineas runner-up California Dreamer.
Moore may have been low in the saddle inside the final quarter-mile but he had a willing ally and while several rivals were lining up a furlong from home, it was only David Marnane's 25/1 outsider East Hampton which emerged from to lay down a stern challenge in the closing stages. But Diego Velazquez stuck to his guns and prevailed by a neck from East Hampton at the winning post.
'A mile is probably his trip. We were preparing him for Ascot and we had him in the stalls at Leopardstown, but he got upset and had to be withdrawn (from the Amethyst Stakes) and that upset his Ascot plan,' said O'Brien.
'We'll go back up to a mile now for the Sussex or the Jacques le Marois, something like that. He'll have no problem getting back up to nine furlongs or a mile and a quarter at the end of the season.'
The O'Brien-Moore hat-trick was initiated by Sugar Island in the opening juvenile fillies' maiden over seven furlongs.
With Moore switching to the daughter of Dubawi following the absence of anticipated favourite Signora, the regally-bred two-year-old was sent off 9/2 and after hitting the front at the furlong pole, she prevailed by half a length from Saint Agatha.
O'Brien and Moore added to their tally with Light As Air in the 12-furlong maiden, the 1/2 favourite having previously been seen finishing well down the field in the King George V Stakes at Royal Ascot.
One Look relished a step up in trip when bouncing back to her best in the Curragh's Al Shira'aa Racing Meadow Court Stakes. The four-year-old burst onto the scene at this venue as a two-year-old and has been one of Paddy Twomey's top performers ever since.
She began this season in great form, winning the Park Express Stakes at this track before returning to give Porta Fortuna a fright in the Lanwades Stud Stakes, but was disappointing when last seen in the Duke of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Sent off at 100/30 for her first try at 10 furlongs, she relished the return to her beloved Curragh and served a reminder of her class in the hands of Wayne Lordan to deliver a decisive length success over Dermot Weld's Azada.
'It was great to come here and win again at the Curragh. She seems to like the Curragh and is a lovely filly,' said Twomey. 'Ascot didn't work out for her, probably on ground quicker than she'd like and a trip as short as she'd want to go.
'She's in the Nassau, she could run here in the Blandford Stakes on Champions Weekend and races on Arc weekend. We'll have a think and pick our spots.'
Queen Of The Bogs (8/1) made every yard of the running to land the closing fillies'maiden for John Murphy and Gary Carroll, while Shane Foley steered Jessica Harrington's Lady In Paris (8/1) to success in the 10-furlong handicap.
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