In-form Moss Tucker primed for Abbaye bid

Irish sprinter out to improve on last year’s ParisLongchamp fifth place.

Moss Tucker is being readied for a second tilt at the Prix de l’Abbaye following his Group One breakthrough at the Curragh earlier this month.

Having landed the Phoenix Sprint at the track in August, the five-year-old followed up in the Flying Five Stakes to provide trainer Ken Condon with his first top-level success in over two years.

While Moss Tucker was undoubtedly aided by the fact the likes of Highfield Princess, Bradsell and Art Power underperformed in Ireland, he was not beaten far when fifth in last year’s Abbaye and Condon is looking forward to seeing him head back across the Channel on Arc weekend.

“All being well, he goes to Longchamp. He was good at the Curragh obviously, and he seems to have come out of the race well,” said the Kildare-based trainer.

“He did run well in the Abbaye last year. Obviously, the draw is very crucial there and we’ll just have to see how that works out, but we’ve been happy with the horse so far.

“He’s upped his form again this year. He won the Phoenix Sprint prior to the Flying Five, which was a career-best, and he obviously stepped forward again then to win a Group One.

“He’s five years old now and he’s had a good few starts, but he’s obviously on very good terms with himself and seems to be improving.”

Trainer Ken Condon at the Curragh
Trainer Ken Condon at the Curragh (Brian Lawless/PA)

While Moss Tucker appears versatile when it comes to underfoot conditions, Condon is keeping his fingers crossed the ground is on the soft side at ParisLongchamp to give him the best possible chance of success.

He added: “We got the rain on the day at the Curragh and maybe that inconvenienced some of the quicker horses, whereas when there’s cut in the ground we know our horse is capable of running very well.

“Nine times out of 10 it’s relatively soft on Arc weekend and that won’t be a problem for this horse. He’s tough and reliable and he tries, so he has all the attributes for soft ground.”

Moss Tucker’s Flying Five win was a first Group One triumph for Condon since Laws Of Indices landed the Prix Jean Prat in the summer of 2021 and he admits it was nice to be back in the big time.

Condon said: “Group One wins are hard to come by and those kind of horses that are competitive in Group Ones are difficult to come by.

“It’s been a couple of years since we won one and the likeable thing about this lad is where he started and where he’s got to. It’s definitely been a good journey, he’s kept improving, he likes training and likes racing and has given his owners fantastic sport.”

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