First winner for Churchill as Il Grande Gatsby strikes in Rome

Dual Guineas winner and promising first-season sire Churchill got off the mark as a sire when Il Grande Gatsby took out the seven-furlong maiden at the Capannelle in Rome on Wednesday.

The Coolmore stallion was provided with a comfortable first success as the Mario Giorgi-trained colt defeated Raimark by a length and a half, with Ilgeng another length and a quarter back in third.

The fifth winner from as many to race out of Irene Watts, Il Grande Gatsby successfully followed the promise he showed when runner-up on his debut at the same track last month.

Churchill won four times at the top level in a stellar 13-race career, with victories in the National and Dewhurst Stakes at two preceding his two Classic victories.

Out of Meow - a Listed-winning Storm Cat half-sister to three black-type performers - he is a full-brother to Cheveley Park heroine Clemmie as well as the Group-placed Blenheim Palace.

Currently standing at Coolmore’s Irish base, the seven-year-old will shuttle to Australia for A$22,000 (£12,000/€14,000) later this year.

He covered 360 southern hemisphere mares during his first three years at stud and will have his first runners in Australia later in the second half of 2021.

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