White Birch, the third-place finisher in the Epsom Derby last year, won the Coolmore Stud Sottsass Irish EBF Mooresbridge Stakes at the Curragh with ease, making it two wins from two races this season.
In the Alleged Stakes held here last month, John Murphy's grey colt overcame a slow start to defeat Maxux. However, during the same 10-furlong distance in this Group Two race, the colt established a much more advantageous early lead.
After turning for home, Elegant Man was declared out of the race. Colin Keane then asked the four-year-old to overtake pacesetter Greenland, and from that moment on, the outcome was obvious.
White Birch quickly pulled clear of the pursuing group, and nothing could narrow the gap. Lord Massusus, a 20-1 outsider, finished third, three and a quarter lengths behind Birch.
Greenland put in a valiant effort to finish third, but Village Voice and the heavily favoured Maxux fell short in fourth and fifth place, respectively, even though they both performed better at the weights than they did when trailing White Birch the previous time.
The winner could now return to Epsom, and both Paddy Power and Betfair had lowered the Coronation Cup odds from 20-1 to 12-1.
George Murphy, his father's assistant trainer, expressed his satisfaction, saying, "That was a very good performance." “He travelled along nicely, they didn’t go much of a gallop, but it was by far his best performance. We couldn’t be happier with that. We’ll see how he comes out of that and talk to the owners to make a plan. He has the option of the Tattersalls Gold Cup and also the Coronation Cup at Epsom. He’s come on a nice bit from the last day and hopefully he can come on again.”