Classy 3yo Beat The Bank made a most impressive debut in the 7 furlong maiden at Dundalk tonight under Pat Smullen. He's a lovely stamp of a horse who we've always held in very high regard and is a pleasure to work with.
I'd have been very disappointed if he hadn't won tonight. He's always shown us alot of ability at home. In our opinion he would have been good enough to win a Curragh maiden but was in such good form at home we decided to go ahead and run here. He ran strongly to the line and I've no doubt he'll get a mile but also has enough speed to win over sprint distances. That opens up a lot of options for him and we'll look to step him up to a higher level next time. I expect he's the type of horse who will make his mark in black type company once the turf season gets under way.
I was particularly happy to get another winner on the board for the Straight To Victory syndicate who are a joy to train for. Beat The Bank was one of three yearlings I purchased for the syndicate at the end of 2015. The other two were Mister Trader (who won the season opener at the Curragh last season before finishing a close second to the top class Caravaggio in the Marble Hill Stakes, Listed) and Hit The Bid who won the Group 3 Curragh Stakes. They have certainly been a very lucky syndicate and deserve every bit of it.