Indices set to go National – and then international

Molly Hunter
August 31, 2020 5:22 am

Condon plans return to Curragh, with France and possibly America to follow.

Ken Condon has a clutch of Group One targets at home and abroad in mind for his Railway Stakes winner Laws Of Indices.

The two-year-old had half a length to spare over runner-up Lucky Vega when a 66-1 victor in the Group Two Railway, and then finished a creditable fourth behind the same horse back at the Curragh in the Keeneland Phoenix Stakes – having parted company with jockey Billy Lee on the way to the start.

Condon intends to run the colt in top company again, as he considers a series of high-profile international engagements before the end of the season.

He said: “He’s got an entry in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (at ParisLongchamp), and he might get an entry in the Criterium International subsequent to that.

“That hasn’t closed yet, but his immediate aim is the National Stakes.

“It’s shaping up to be a very good race, but he ran very well in the Phoenix, having been a bit slowly away. The winner was very good on the day – (but) we were happy with how he ran, and he finished the race out very well.”

Beyond the Vincent O’Brien National Stakes at the Curragh on September 13, and the two French contests in October, Condon is also contemplating the idea of running the son of Power in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland in November.

“Hopefully, everything going well over the next few weeks, he should go for the National Stakes and maybe a race in France after that,” he said.

“There’s also a possibility that he might get an entry in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland.

“He doesn’t seem to be ground dependent, so that’s good, but he remains in good form and looks very well – so he’ll probably take his chance in the National Stakes, and we’ll go from there.

“(That will be) possibly France, and if he’s to have one more run after that it could be the Breeders’ Cup, but we’ll let him tell us.”