Gozen

Gozen put up a good performance to finish second behind Lumiere Rock in the Group 3 Staffordstown Stud Stakes at The Curragh on Saturday. Taken back in the field early on from her outside draw and settled in sixth of the seven runners, Michael O’Callaghan’s filly travelled well through her race. She made nice progress on the outside, widest of all, around the home turn, and she travelled really well on the outside into the home straight. She came under a ride at the two-furlong marker, and it took her a couple of strides to pick up. She did well, though, to make ground into a quickening pace. She was seventh of the seven runners passing the furlong marker, but she kept on really well from there, passing five of her six rivals and finishing just a length and a half behind the winner Lumiere Rock, who was providing her rider Mikey Sheehy with his first Group race winner.

It was a race in which the pace held up well. The winner made all the running, the third filly raced in second from early and the fourth filly raced in third from early. Gozen was the only filly who was able to get in among them from the rear, and she finished second, keeping on best of all, coming widest and latest of all. She was in front at the pull-up. She had finished off her race well on her racecourse debut too, when she just got up close home to land a seven-furlong maiden at The Curragh, winning by a short head from Basil Martini, who won the Group 3 Weld Park Stakes next time. She coped with the step up in trip to a mile here well, and she should be able to build on this. She has the physical scope to progress as she gets older.
The Curragh, 8^th October 2022