Euro/Mideast Road: Triple Crown nominee Mount Kilimanjaro tops Patton

Mar 06, 2025 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Friday’s Patton Race at Dundalk in Ireland serves as the penultimate event on the Euro/Mideast Road to the Kentucky Derby, which concludes with the April 5 UAE Derby (G2) on Dubai World Cup night at Meydan.

A one-mile contest on Polytrack, the Patton features the Aidan O’Brien-trained Mount Kilimanjaro. The French-bred colt is the lone Triple Crown nominee in the short field of five, and the Coolmore runner also boasts the highest standard of form.

Mount Kilimanjaro lost his first two starts in salty maidens, finishing fifth behind future Group 1 winner Scorthy Champ at Leopardstown and third to next-out Group 3 scorer Field of Gold at Newmarket. But the son of Siyouni improved when stepping up to a mile last fall. After capturing a conditions race at ParisLongchamp over Arc weekend, Mount Kilimanjaro placed a clear second to stablemate Twain in the Oct. 27 Criterium International (G1).

Off the mark! Mount Kilimanjaro strikes in style in the Arqana Series -- Haras de Bouquetot Criterium d'Automne at @paris_longchamp for Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore… pic.twitter.com/WHpePFK3Im

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) October 5, 2024

With Ryan Moore coming in for the ride at Dundalk, Mount Kilimanjaro promises to go off as the prohibitive odds-on favorite. Still, he’s returning from a layoff as the 137-pound highweight, and his task might not be as straightforward as it looks on paper.

Spicy Margarita hinted of potential in her good-looking maiden score over this track Feb. 12. Trained by Adrian Murray for AMO Racing Ltd. and Giselle de Aguiar, she will receive an eight-pound weight concession from Mount Kilimanjaro.

Spicy Margarita looks a nice type for @AMurrayRacing, bolting up in the https://t.co/AW564qEeIl Fillies Maiden after a positive ride on the front end from @waynemlordan 🚀@DundalkStadium pic.twitter.com/IOmb5BRf6H

— Horse Racing Ireland (@HRIRacing) February 12, 2025

Murray has another AMO Racing colorbearer, Titanium Emperor, making his career debut in this spot. The well-bred colt by Night of Thunder gets AMO’s retained rider, David Egan, while Spicy Margarita keeps jockey Wayne Lordan.

The most experienced entrant, Powerful Lady, comes off a course-and-distance maiden victory. But the Natalia Lupini pupil needed seven starts to achieve that breakthrough, and she’s facing better company here.

Rounding out the quintet is twice-raced maiden Glinka from the Joseph O’Brien yard. A homebred for his mom, Annemarie O’Brien, Glinka has shown little so far. The son of Australia has been putting himself behind with poor starts, and a better break would help.

The Patton, offering points on the 20-10-6-4-2 scale, is set for 3 p.m. ET as Friday’s seventh race at Dundalk. You can watch and wager at TwinSpires.com.