Order Of St George off the mark with promising Mighty Bandit at Punchestown

Order Of St George registered his first winner on the track in the best possible way through Mighty Bandit at Punchestown on Saturday.

Coolmore's champion stayer, who has been at Castlehyde since 2019, has only had a couple of his first crop running around Europe prior to the debut of Gordon Elliott's three-year-old in the John Lynch Carpets Maiden Hurdle.

Bred by Mountainview Stud, Mighty Bandit could not have been more impressive in the colours of Caldwell Construction, motoring clear after the last and winning by more than nine lengths under Jack Kennedy. He is out of an unraced half-sister to Howard Johnson's Grade 1-placed novice hurdler Akilak.

Order Of St George, a son of Galileo, landed the first of two Irish St Legers in 2015 for Aidan O'Brien and the following year captured the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot. He has been standing at a fee of €6,500 throughout his career, with his progeny selling for up to €90,000, and was the joint-busiest stallion in Europe in his first covering season, receiving 261 mares.

Order Of St George was a top-class stayer before his stallion careerCredit: Patrick McCann

Elliott gave a positive review to Mighty Bandit, who did not go through the ring but was sold on as a youngster by his breeders.

"I'd say he's a nice horse," he said. "We did two bits of work with him and he worked well but he got light and we did nothing with him since, so we didn't really know what to expect.

"Jack was very impressed with him though. He looks a nice horse. We had plenty of schooling done with him and I like the way he jumped. I think he will strengthen up through the season and that was a nice surprise today."

Order Of St George was bred by Paget Bloodstock and went to Keeneland as a yearling, where he was knocked down to Blandford Bloodstock for $550,000. He is a grandson of the outstanding Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Storm Song.

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