Convergent
Convergent did really well to win the Group 3 CMG Group Stakes over a mile and a half at Leopardstown on Saturday, given how keen he was through the early stages of the race.
Never far off a moderate pace set by Sons And Lovers, it appeared as if he was always doing a little more than Clifford Lee wanted him to do from early. Still keen as they left the three-furlong marker behind them, he moved up nicely on the run into the home straight, and he picked up well on the near side when his rider asked him for his effort. He hit the front on the run to the furlong marker, and he cleared away inside the final furlong. He idled or tired a little inside the closing 50 yards, but he still had one and a half lengths to space over his closest pursuer.
It was a fine performance by Karl Burke’s horse. The early pace wasn’t fast, his finishing speed was over 109% of his overall speed and the three horses who chased him home raced in first, second and third from fully a mile out. He had to have expended more energy than he needed to expend by racing keenly through the early stages of the race, yet he was still fastest of all through each of the last two furlongs.
This was probably a career-best by the Newtown Anner Stud colt. Third behind dual Derby winner Lambourn and Derby runner-up Lazy Griff in the Chester Vase in May, when he had Geoffrey Freer winner Furthur well behind him in fifth place, he stepped forward from that next time when he went down by just a short head to Hochkonig in the German Derby. This was a step forward from that and, given that it was just his fifth race, there is the obvious prospect of more to come. Out of a mare who won over a mile and six furlongs, a half-sister to Melrose winner Dark Crusader, he will be of interest if he races again over a mile and a half, and he will surely get further in time if he needs to.
Leopardstown, 11th September 2025
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