Song camp consider autumn targets

Ashley Iveson
September 27, 2020 1:38 pm

Ascot and ParisLongchamp in mix for dual Irish St Leger winner.

Connections of dual Irish St Leger heroine Search For A Song will consider possible travel complications and ground conditions as they plot her next move.

It has been a largely frustrating campaign for Dermot Weld’s filly, who disappointed on her first start of the season in the Mooresbridge Stakes and was pulled up swiftly after stumbling badly in the Munster Oaks at Cork.

However, a third-placed finish behind the brilliant Magical in the Tattersalls Gold Cup was a step in the right direction before she successfully defended her crown in the one-mile-six-furlong Classic at the Curragh this month.

Fiona Craig, bloodstock and breeding adviser to owners Moyglare Stud Farm, said: “It’s been a complicated year.

“She only got about 100 yards in the Munster Oaks and then ran great behind Magical in the Tattersalls Gold Cup. We considered going to France afterwards, and there was a discussion about her going to York, but you were going to hit Love in the Yorkshire Oaks.

“Shipping has become harder and harder as the year has gone on, and we just decided to keep her at home, so to win the Irish Leger again was a great day – and I thought Oisin (Orr) gave her a great ride.”

Search For A Song holds an entry in the Qipco British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot on October 17, while she also has a more immediate option in France.

Craig added: “She’s in very good order, so she probably will run again this year – and it will all depend on where she can go and how easily.

“There’s the Prix de Royallieu (at ParisLongchamp) next week, but she’s not straightforward and probably a filly who would want her own staff with her, so I’m not sure if that’s possible or not. She has grown up a lot this year, but she can still be a bit quirky – that’s just her.

“There’s Champions Day, but the ground can come up very heavy at Ascot at that time of year. She won on yielding ground at the Curragh and has this massive stride, but we always felt that she wouldn’t go in the mud, so that would be the worry.

“Wherever she goes, I think she’ll stay in training next year. The Leger might be a long-term aim again, but I’d like to think we could have a bit of fun with her in races like the Yorkshire Oaks, maybe something at Royal Ascot and maybe the King George.

“It would be great for her to run over a mile and a half a bit more. She was third behind Magical over a mile and a quarter – and while I’m not saying she’s a mile-and-a-quarter filly, God bless Pat Smullen, he always said she had enough pace for a mile and a half.”