Flag of Honour impresses in winning Irish St. Leger

With his esteemed older stablemate Order of St George retired earlier this week, Flag of Honour stepped into the roll of leading stayer in the Aidan O’Brien barn with a dominant win Sunday at The Curragh in the Group 1 Irish St. Leger.

Flag of Honour is just a 3-year-old, as was Order of St George when he won the Irish St. Leger for the first time in 2015. The Irish St. Leger, unlike most St. Leger races, also is open to older horses.

Earlier on The Curragh card, Havana Gray earned a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint when he won the Group 1 Flying Five Stakes. Skitter Scatter captured the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes for 2-year-old fillies, a Breeders’ Cup Challenge race linked to the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf, while Quorto looked like an elite performer in winning the Group 1 Vincent O’Brien National Stakes for Godolphin and trainer Kevin Prendergast.

Flag of Honour, by Galileo and out of Hawala, by Warning, went straight to the front under Ryan Moore on Sunday. The colt had won his first two tries over 1 3/4 miles in lesser Group 3s but had no trouble with the rise in class, turning back the Joseph O’Brien-trained 3-year-old Latrobe to post a 2 3/4-length victory. Weekender, the 3-1 second choice behind 2-1 favorite Flag of Honour, finished third.

Trainer Karl Burke captured the Group 1 Matron Stakes with Laurens on Saturday at Leopardstown and added a second top-level tally to his weekend when Havana Grey won the five-furlong Flying Five by a half-length. Longshot Son of Rest finished second, while Sioux Nation, the second choice behind the favored Havana Grey, was third. Richard Kingscote rode the winner from the front end over a good-to-yielding course.

Havana Grey, a 3-year-old by Havana Gold and out of Blanc de Chine, by Dark Angel, won his first Group 1, albeit a seemingly soft one. Burke said after the race that Havana Grey would be pointed to the BC Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs in November.

Skitter Scatter also earned fees-paid entry into a Breeders’ Cup race, the Juvenile Fillies Turf, and travel expenses to Churchill Downs for her sharp score in the Moyglare Stud. Winning for the third time in a row, Skitter Scatter and jockey Ronan Wheelan broke near the front but dropped to midpack during the middle stages of the seven-furlong Moyglare Stud before coming with a solid, sustained run that produced a two-length win over Lady Kaya.

Hermosa, least fancied by bettors among three Aidan O’Brien-trained horses, finished third as the other two, Zagitova and Just Wonderful, made no real impression. P.J. Prendergast trains Skitter Scatter, an American-bred daughter of Scat Daddy and Dane Street, by Street Cry.

No horse looked better in winning Sunday than Quorto, who dueled through the final quarter-mile of the Vincent O’Brien National Stakes with the highly regarded Anthony Van Dyck and came away a 1 1/4-length winner. Quorto, with William Buick riding for trainer Charlie Appleby and Godolphin, tracked the pace from third in the one-mile National, took on Anthony Van Dyck willingly, and kept pushing until he had worn down his main rival.

Quorto, by Dubawi and out of Volume, by Mount Nelson, has started his career with three wins and easily captured the Group 2 Superlative Stakes at Newmarket before Sunday’s race.