DERMOT Weld looks like he could start the Flat season in flying form at the Curragh tomorrow where the master of Rosewell House sends out a strong team on the opening day.
The unexposed Ashraf jumps off the page in the feature event of the day, the Tote Irish Lincolnshire.
The Aga Khan-owned son of Cape Cross was very impressive when winning his maiden at the same meeting last season and had just one further run at the backend.
He emerged with plenty of credit from a competitive Trigo Stakes when a fine fourth in that competitive Listed contest.
There looks plenty more to come from the four-year-old and with that potential in mind a mark of 97 looks attractive.
Onenightidreamed was a good winner of the €100,000 contest last season and like the selection only had one further run last season.
That was a game success in Group Three company at Leopardstown and as a result he has a lot more weight on his back this season.
Soft ground is vital to him and with conditions set to be testing he could make a bold bid again under top-weight.
Aussie Valentine, who ran a cracker against an in-form rival in Hat Alnasar on his return at Dundalk last week, looks another to note.
He chased home Onenightidreamed last season and is on a pound lower mark than when last winning.
A recent run at this time of year has to be a big bonus and Party Angel looks another leading contender for Weld in the preceding Madrid Handicap.
The Dark Angel filly stepped up considerably from her debut when taking a Dundalk maiden last month and looked like she would progress further then.
The runner-up went on to frank the form in good style and a mark of 76 for her handicap debut now doesn’t look harsh at all.
Weld could have a strong finish to the meeting as Embiran makes plenty of appeal in the concluding mile maiden.
The Shamardal colt went into the notebook when running on strongly on his debut at Cork last October having met trouble in running.
That form looks strong now with the winner Moonlight Magic going on to score in Listed company at Leopardstown.
The Group Three Park Express Stakes has attracted a good field of fillies and the Willie McCreery-trained Devonshire would appear the one to beat.
She was a close third in the Irish 1,000 Guineas last season and also claimed a Listed race in testing conditions at Listowel so the soft ground won’t be an inconvenience.
Weld has an interesting runner in Joailliere, who hasn’t appeared since finishing ninth in the Guineas last year on only her second career start.
