Surpass lives up to expectations at Tipperary

Surpass looks a colt sure to go on to bigger and better things after making a successful start to his career for Aidan O’Brien at Tipperary.

The son of Saxon Warrior was sent off the 13-8 favourite for his racecourse debut in the Tipperary Races Median Auction Maiden – and while he had to be cajoled along by Ryan Moore in the early stages, there was much to like about the way he finished to race to score by a neck from 50-1 shot Shocker.

O’Brien’s representative, Chris Armstrong, said: “He is a work in progress, was still very babyish in the preliminaries and once he develops he will be a lovely horse. Ryan gave him a lovely introduction and they went a nice tempo throughout, which suited him.

“He could be one for the Tyros (Stakes) and while we don’t have many Saxon Warriors, the ones we have are very nice and the sire is having a good run of it at the moment.

“He is one to look forward to and we’ll see the best of him as a three-year-old.”

David Marnane is planning a trip to Royal Ascot with Sir Yoshi following his victory in the curtain-raising Tipperary (C & G) Maiden.

Placed on his first two starts at Dundalk and Cork, the Mehmas colt made it third time lucky at third time of asking as a 9-4 favourite under Luke McAteer, finishing with gusto to get up and beat the front-running Passing Phase by half a length.

Marnane said: “We like him, but he obviously wants quicker ground than that (soft).

“I blame myself for the last day as I told Luke to take his time, but he pinged the gates and they crowded him and he got intimidated.

“I wanted to get one more run into him before going to Ascot and he’ll go for the Windsor Castle. He is tough and we don’t know how good he is because he is very lazy.

“His biggest attribute for Ascot is his relaxed temperament, which is what you need, and he has a bit of pace.”