Diego Velazquez, the flashy chestnut by Frankel who cost £2.5m as a yearling, is not one of the absolute leading lights at the world-famous Ballydoyle stables overseen by the great trainer Aidan O'Brien but this is a pretty good horse all the same and he might have more to offer yet after opening his account for the season in the Group 3 Meld Stakes at Leopardstown under Ryan Moore.
Speaking to Racing TV after the race, O'Brien said: “He ran a lovely race in the French Guineas and then we went to the French Derby with him, Ryan just said maybe over a mile and a quarter we rode him too forward and the pace of the race didn’t work out for him.
“We went to Ascot over a mile and a half and we felt very much coming from Ascot that he’s not a mile-and-a-half horse.
“He’s made like a miler so he’s probably an eight, nine or 10-furlong horse. He loved the ground.
“We ran him back quick because we wanted to know where to go with him in the autumn. Ryan said he has all the class in the world and all the speed in the world.
“He could be a Cox Plate horse and we’ll see what we do in between with him. He’s definitely not short of pace.
“We’re delighted with him. He has a lot of options and at least we know now what to do in the autumn. We’ll give him a little bit of time now.”
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