'It was the flip of a coin, but I had faith' - David Egan's belief in Arizona Blaze pays off as he chooses right in Flying Five

When Amo Racing and Adrian Murray rock up at the Curragh, they rarely leave anything behind and Arizona Blaze continued their love affair with Irish racing's headquarters by landing the Bar One Racing Flying Five in decisive style.

Justifying jockey David Egan's decision to desert the similarly reliable Bucanero Fuerte, Arizona Blaze broke his Group 1 duck with a length success over Nighteyes. 

Murray has saddled 13 stakes winners either owned or part-owned by Amo since he started training for Kia Joorabchian's operation in 2022 and eight of them, including all three Group 1s, have come at the Curragh. Retained rider Egan had to choose between two tremendous flagbearers who have been responsible for nine of those 13 wins.

The market disagreed with Egan's verdict, with the winner going off at 11-2 while the Colin Keane-ridden Bucanero Fuerte was 9-2, and it was a brave call by him on a number of counts.

Bucanero Fuerte was a top-class two-year-old two years ago, illustrated by a devastating display in the Phoenix Stakes here, and was firmly back on the up after Listed and Group 3 wins this campaign. 

Arizona Blaze came off the back of an underwhelming effort in the Nunthorpe and his career has been littered with hard-luck stories, having finished runner-up in agonising fashion at York's Ebor festival and the Breeders' Cup last year before being denied in the Commonwealth Cup by a neck three months ago.

As the two stablemates whizzed past the two-furlong pole sharing the lead, it became clear Egan's faith that his mount's big day hadn't passed him by would be vindicated. He blasted clear and maintained his advantage to the line, with Nighteyes running on for second ahead of Bucanero Fuerte.

"That defeat in the Commonwealth Cup was hard to swallow," admitted the winning rider. "He's a top-class horse and really deserved that. Leading up to the race, a lot of people were saying Bucanero was the pick between the two. 

"It was the flip of a coin but I always had a lot of faith in this horse and Adrian and Robson [Aguiar] can get horses to bounce back."

Robson Aguiar (left) and Kia Joorabchian after Arizona Blaze's win in the Flying Five Credit: Patrick McCann

For Murray, it all still seems a bit surreal to be coming away with Group 1s from the Curragh on a regular basis. Although this was a huge breakthrough for Arizona Blaze, there could be more to come as another crack at the Breeders' Cup is in the offing.

"I was confident he'd bounce back as he very rarely runs a bad race," said Murray. "At York, he was a little slow out of the stalls and got on the back foot.

"It's unbelievable. I grew up all my life watching racing at the Curragh. They're two brilliant horses. Bucanero is a class horse as well. It was a tough decision for David and I thought there was a good chance he was on the wrong one, but he was right. He'll probably go straight to the Breeders' Cup."

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