Royal Ascot beckons for Comanche Brave following his impressive success in the Weatherbys Ireland Greenlands Stakes at the Curragh on Saturday.
Donnacha O'Brien has chartered an unusual route with Comanche Brave - as well as a few planes - with the four-year-old having contested races in Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong so far in 2026.
He finished a respectable fifth behind global superstar Ka Ying Rising on the last of them and was made the 7/4 favourite for his domestic return, dropping to Group 2 company, and his supporters never had any real cause for concern as he won by a cosy two lengths.
O'Brien felt the international campaign had been a key factor in Comanche Brave's success, telling Racing TV: "He travels very well, he's a laidback horse when he travels and I think a few races at a high tempo - the sprinters have to get used to that real high tempo and get comfortable at that - have really helped him and that was part of our thinking in taking him abroad; hopefully it will stand him in good stead in the future.
"He's a great horse. This year we wanted to have a go at campaigning him as a sprinter, we've always wanted to try it as he's a horse with a lot of natural pace and as he's matured, he's gotten stronger and seems to be getting better with every start.
"I was a little bit worried about the draw beforehand, I thought they might come stands' side and we'd get stuck on the wing but we got a good start and Ryan [Moore] found a lovely slot so from halfway we were pretty confident.
"The Platinum Jubilee [at Royal Ascot] looks the obvious race after that, he's got loads of pace and I think he'll go there with a live chance."
Sky Bet and Paddy Power make Comanche Brave a 14/1 chance for the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes.
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