Smart Sale double for Almanzor

Resuming mare House Of Lords completed an impressive double at Sale for our resident stallion Almanzor.

She scored with a good degree of authority, with her victory following the earlier eye-catching effort of Touchdown to break his maiden at his second appearance.

The patiently handled House Of Lords posted a win and a pair of runner-up finishes from three previous outings and was expected to go close on her return over 1411 metres following a two-month break.

“Her first preparation was outstanding and she’s a clean winded horse with serious talent,” trainer Peter Gelagotis said.

House Of Lords settled midfield and wide before rider Ben Allen urged her forward across the top and she powered home to win convincingly.

“She’s by Almanzor out of a seriously good mare, she’s progressive and we can’t ask for any more at this stage,” Gelagotis said.

She was bred by Peter Gillespie and Bill Gleeson is a daughter of the four-time Group 1 winner Shez Sinsational, who is in foal to Chaldean and is also the dam of the Group winners Sinarahma and House Of Cartier.

House Of Lords was a trial winner at Foxton last season for Awapuni trainer Peter Didham before she relocated to Gelagotis’ Pakenham operation.

Meanwhile, Touchdown finished second at his first appearance in May before a break and he had no trouble going one better for trainers Ben, Will and JD Hayes and jockey Luke Nolen.

The Almanzor four-year-old made light of a wide run in midfield over 1411 metres and strolled clear in the run home under a minimum of urging.

“He was super on debut, and we thought he would be very competitive,” stable representative Annabel Adams said.

Touchdown is a half-brother to the G3 Rough Habit Plate winner Shocking Luck with their dam the Shamardal mare Shamardal Luck and the family of the G1 Australian Cup winer Starstruck.

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