Alparslan much the best for Karl Burke in Curragh sales race

Karl Burke will look to step Alparslan up in class following a runaway victory in the Tattersalls Ireland Super Auction Sales Stakes at the Curragh.

The Spigot Lodge handler enjoyed a double on day one of the Irish Champions Festival at Leopardstown on Saturday courtesy of Convergent and Fallen Angel and his latest representative was a heavily-supported 5-4 favourite on the back of an impressive debut at Leicester last month.

Always up with the pace in the hands of Clifford Lee, Alparslan came under pressure with over a furlong still to run, but the further he went the better he looked and he passed the post with three and a half lengths in hand over Magny Cours.

Burke said: “I’m delighted with him, he’s a lovely colt.

“We purposely left him for this race after he won his maiden. He’d improved a lot on that and we’ll obviously throw him into black-type races now and see how high we can take him.

“He’s workmanlike at home, he’s not a speed horse, so you never know until you get those horses on the track exactly what they’ve got under the bonnet.”

Paddy Power make Alparslan a 20-1 shot for next year’s 2000 Guineas, while he is 8-1 from 25-1 for the Dewhurst – but Burke suggested he could set his sights a little lower.

He added: “I’ll have to discuss it with Mohamed (Saeed Al Shehhi, owner) but I’d say he’ll go for a Listed race somewhere, or maybe the Horris Hill at Newbury might be a nice race for him as he obviously handles a bit of cut in the ground.”

Tango Flare was a 50-1 winner of the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Bold Lad Sprint Handicap for trainer Pat Foley and jockey Luke McAteer, while the concluding Irish Stallion Farms EBF Northfields Handicap went the way of Johnny Murtagh’s 11-2 shot Shaool, ridden by Ben Coen.