Siskin toughs it out to win the Phoenix Stakes and extend unbeaten sequence

The long wait for Ger Lyons to saddle his first domestic Group 1 winner came to an end in grand style as Siskin defied the elements and the unwanted attention of a loose horse on his way to the start, thus confirming his status as the top two-year-old in Ireland and opening the possibility of a clash with top British juvenile Pinatubo down the line.

The drama started early when one of the Ballydoyle trio Mount Fuji unshipped Seamie Heffernan on the way to the start, and the loose horse picked out Siskin as the horse he wanted to stay close to, much to the annoyance of Colin Keane who tried and mostly failed to see off the limpet-like attention until the loose horse was caught and reunited with Heffernan.

In the race itself though, Siskin was nice and relaxed in being settled just off the pace and showed no obvious dislike for the soft ground as he quickened to the front in the last furlong to hold off the stern challenges of Monarch Of Egypt and Royal Lytham to score by three-quarters of a length. Paddy Power have cut him into 10-1 from 14-1 for the Qipco 2000 Guineas.

Lyons, whose only previous Group 1 success came with Lightening Pearl in the 2011 Cheveley Park Stakes, made it clear afterwards that the 2000 Guineas is not in his thinking at the moment.

Ger Lyons, Colin Keane and groom Dan McGraine with Siskin after winning the Keeneland Phoenix StakesCredit: Patrick McCann

He said: "Talk of the Guineas at this stage is very premature. Today was to tell us if we could step up to the Dewhurst or National Stakes or go the Middle Park route. At this moment, the Guineas is the furthest thing from my mind. I don't know if we learned anything trip-wise, but we learned that this is one good, tough horse.”

He added: “My confidence was shot all week with the rain, purely because we knew that he was better on a fast gallop than a dead one, and his forte is that burst of speed which he still showed there. Ryan Moore said to Colin afterwards that he did well to win but I think he's just a very smart horse.

"There's a horse over in England that we're all very impressed with in Pinatubo. That clash would be something to witness if that came about.”

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