Cozone

Cozone ran a big race to finish third in the two-mile-one-furlong handicap at Killarney on Tuesday evening.

Held up early on by Robbie Colgan towards the rear of the field, he travelled well into the home straight among horses. He went to go outside in order to deliver his run, but his path to the outside was blocked by ultimate winner Harry’s Legacy, with the result that he had to try to make his ground among horses. He picked up well though when his rider asked him to, but he has to switch back inside as they raced inside the two-furlong marker, and he was checked at the furlong pole as No Thanks and Monas Melody came together in front of him, receiving an accidental smack on the nose from a rival’s whip for good measure. That gap opened up again passing the 100-yard mark and, while that just too late, he did pick up well again to go through the gap and claim third place, beaten just a half a length by the winner.

It was a big run by the Pour Moi gelding on just his third run in Ireland. A winner over 10 furlongs as a three-year-old for Amanda Perrett, he didn’t win in nine attempts last season for James Ferguson, but he went close on a couple of occasions. He kept on well too in a one-mile-five-furlong handicap at Navan on his first run for Matthew Smith, and he left behind a disappointing run over hurdles at Down Royal on his previous run, when he caught the eyes of the stewards. He was unlucky not to finish even closer than he did, he finished off his race well once he got into the clear, and he was in front at the pull-up. He obviously sees out this extended two-mile trip well, and he will be of interest wherever he goes next. His rating of 77 might just see him sneak in at the bottom of the big Connacht Hotel Handicap for amateur riders on the first day of the Galway Festival, and he could be a lively outsider in that. Galway is surely on his radar, and he will be of interest in whichever race in which he lines up there.
Killarney, 12^th July 2022