$2.4 million sale-topper St James's Square primed for new career over hurdles

St James's Square, who has carried with him the millstone of being the seven-figure sales-topper at Keeneland in 2018, is set to pay a second visit to Naas on Sunday in circumstances very different to his first.

The well-related son of War Front, who had cost Coolmore $2.4 million as a yearling, made one appearance at the same track as a two-year-old when trained by Aidan O'Brien.

He had looked a little inexperienced in a seven-furlong maiden and was towards the rear of the field throughout, albeit with his cause not helped by taking a little bump towards the end of the race.

St James's Square failed to make an appearance for the stable last season and has changed hands to John Halley, a senior vet for Coolmore and Ballydoyle but who also trains a few horses in County Tipperary.

He is to carry the colours of his sons, Jack and Josh, in the Naas Maiden Hurdle over a shade short of two miles, though the course faces a further inspection at 7.30am on raceday, having survived a Saturday afternoon check.

"The long and the short of it is that he's a very nice horse, I was very lucky to be able to buy him out of Ballydoyle," said John Halley.

"My son saw him and bought him immediately off me. They own him now and they're going to see how he gets on. Obviously he's a War Front and you can imagine the ground won't be ideal for him.

"We just bought him at the backend of the year, he was in training at Ballydoyle up to the autumn."

Interestingly, St James's Square remains an entire. He is out of the Grade 1-winning Smart Strike mare Streaming, whose dam was a half-sister to Belmont Stakes winners Jazil and Rags To Riches.

Also declared for the Naas contest are Showbusiness, a French recruit for Noel and Valerie Moran, and Galileo colt Persia, twice a winner for O'Brien and now with his son, Joseph, and JP McManus.

Asked if he had any expectations, Halley replied: "Absolutely not, not when you're taking on that sort of opposition!"

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