THE decision to swerve the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket with ante-post favourite Found is to the Curragh’s advantage as she features in this afternoon’s Canford Cliffs EBF Athasi Stakes.
Aidan O’Brien’s filly, the highest rated Irish juvenile last season, signed off with a Group One success at the Arc meeting at Longchamp and is likely to be a warm order to give her trainer his first win in the race since 2004.
Last year’s winning handler Dermot Weld runs the once-raced Cork maiden winner Shahzeena, while the older fillies in the contest include recent Leopardstown runner-up Alive Alive Oh and Avenue Gabriel. But all are up against it if Found can reproduce her two-year-old form here under Ryan Moore.
Weld runs Fascinating Rock in the other Group Three on the card, the 10-furlong Mooresbridge Stakes, after he beat Alive Alive Oh last time.
His main rival in a disappointing four-runner response to the status and money, appears to be Parish Hall, as Jim Bolger’s six-year-old was back to winning ways with a gutsy effort over course and distance on his reappearance. He has to concede 3lb to Fascinating Rock and that might just be beyond him.
Bolger and Weld clash in the Listed Tetrarch Stakes, with Naas second Intense Style from Bolger’s stable taking on Tombelaine, who chased home some big names in Ol Man River and John F Kennedy from O’Brien’s yard in races last year, not to mention running Gleneagles to three-parts-of-a-length in the Tyros Stakes at Leopardstown in July.
With a mark of 107 Tombelaine will take some beating here although the Ballydoyle colt The Warrior has scope to improve off his 103 rating.
Ryan Moore won a maiden on him here at the end of March before going to Newmarket to run third behind Mick Channon’s Bossy Guest in a valuable Sales sprint and, of course, that one finished fourth behind Gleneagles in Saturday’s 2000 Guineas. The Warrior might come out on top of Tombelaine.
The opening contest is a two-year-old winners’ race, which sees Bolger’s impressive course maiden winner Mimicking take on a pair who have already tasted success. Blood Moon had subsequent scorer Washington DC behind when winning on his Dundalk debut and is a danger for Ger Lyons, while Michael O’Callaghan runs the promising State Of Emergency, who overcame traffic problems to score on his debut here.
I thought Mimicking looked a bit smart and the 5lb fillies’ allowance might give her the measure of the other pair.
Bolger’s Congressman could have Captain Power and Shanghai Beauty to beat in the six-furlong maiden but if you don’t like backing older horses against three-year-olds in such races nobody is twisting your arm.
In the mile handicap, there’s a chance for Bobby Jean to get back to winning ways after missing out by just a neck last time at Limerick.
