Bucanero Fuerte enters Classic contention for owners Amo Racing after winning Keeneland Phoenix Stakes in style

Bucanero Fuerte provided the most spectacular day to date for upwardly mobile owners Amo Racing by giving them their first Group 1 success.

The colt, trained in Ireland by Adrian Murray and ridden by Amo’s retained jockey Kevin Stott, turned the historic Keeneland Phoenix Stakes into a procession, tearing apart a first-class field over six furlongs with blistering speed and relentless galloping.

Over the past 18 months, the purple silk and white cap of Amo Racing, the company of football agent Kia Joorabchin, has increasingly featured in the biggest competitions, with the most notable performer being King Of Steel, a beautiful colt who falls within a whisker. from the landing of the Epsom Derby in June.

But Bucanero Forte is now in talks to be named two-year-old champion after completing a victory in the Group Two Railway Stakes, also at The Curragh, last month with a change of gear that saw Royal Ascot winner Porta Fortuna and the 13 ⁄ 8 favorite No doubt, trained by Aidan O’Brien, legless. He was four lengths clear on the line.

Born in Denmark, Stott once dreamed of playing for Tottenham after having a two-week trial at the club aged 14, but may now start thinking about a crack in the 2000 Guineas in May; Joorabchin recruited him to ride Amo’s horses in February and this was an important moment.

“I half expected something to come to me, but the further we went, the further we got,” Stott explained.

‘When you’re on a horse’s back, you don’t look back; you just go off on the feel of what’s going on around you, but nothing really hit me.

My boy is exceptional. He kept stretching and stretching. It’s just a sweet, sweet horse.

“This is a race champions win and this is the respect we have for this horse. He has proven himself time and time again. These are the days you dream of. We want quality horses and keep improving.

“Unfortunately Kia is in America, but I know he will be on the phone a lot now! It will mean the world to him.

“He had his first Royal Ascot winner this year, now he has his first Group One winner. The team just keeps getting bigger and better. We want to challenge in the big races.’

There is no doubt that this will happen. Murray, who impressed himself at Royal Ascot in June when he saddled Valiant Force, the shock 150/1 winner of the Norfolk Stakes, will now prepare Bucanero Forte for a clash with O’Brien’s City Of Troy in the National Stakes.

O’Brien made a bid for the stunning 18th time to win the Phoenix Stakes, but it certainly wasn’t a bad day for Ballydoyle’s master, who was in the opening race of the day.

Son of Frankel, who cost £2.4 million as a yearling, he delivered a performance as captivating as Bucanero Forte’s.

Sent out 2/5 favourite, he won by nearly five lengths without ever engaging top gear, and is now a 10/1 to win the 2024 Epsom Derby. Take note.