If like me you’re doing the sensible thing and boarding an Aer Lingus flight to Dublin and making the short hop to the Curragh this weekend then you’ve every right to be excited, for while John Oxx might not have made his mind up about Sea The Stars taking his place in the Irish Derby, everything else looks set fair for a cracking two days racing at the County Kildare venue under the gaze of the RTE cameras.
Just keep your fingers crossed your flight isn’t similar to the one I caught a short while back for the Irish Guineas weekend containing a hen party from St Helens, who chose the ideal location of the rear rows of a passenger aircraft to stage a fight over who exactly had earned ‘air miles’ with the prospective groom, so to speak. With the insults raging and a bout of shoving occurring at 34,000 feet my best piece of advice is not to let them catch you laughing. I know this to be good advice as I failed to heed it….
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Oxx’s indecision means the Derby can wait for now, but I’ll be having a bet in Saturday’s Group 1 Audi Pretty Polly Stakes (3.40pm), which has attracted a small but select line up of seven fillies for the 1m 2f contest.
Ralph Beckett’s star inmate Look Here is favourite in most lists and came within a nostril of giving this column a winner in the Coronation Cup at Espom three weekends ago as she lost out in a three way tie on the line to Ask, having looked the winner as she closed in the final furlong.
I have to say I expected Beckett to aim her for the King George next up, and I’m a little concerned to see her dropping back in trip here, although a stiff track like the Curragh will be a benefit. That said, she has bags of class and may be versatile enough to win over a variety of distances.
John Oxx’s Katiyra will be popular with local punters hoping for a ‘home’ win, but she has a 265 day absence to overcome, although she does go well fresh and has been specifically aimed at this target throughout the year.
Dar Re Mi will also have her supporters but I’m convinced she needs further than 1m 2f to show her best form, and her inability to see off Crystal Capella in a Group 3 at York (in receipt of 4lbs) on her reappearance means she needs to improve here.
I’m happy to look beyond the front of the market though, and while it’s a shade disappointing we haven’t got a dead eight for betting purposes the one carrying my each way cash with hopes of a minor upset will be Aidan O’Brien’s Roman Empress, who has untold scope for improvement and managed to get her head in front at the third time of asking at Limerick last time.
A sweetly bred Sadler’s Wells filly out of a Slip Anchor mare Roman Empress was probably a shade disappointing on her first couple of racecourse spins at Navan and Leopardstown, but she put all that behind her at Limerick and if you watch the tape I think you’ll agree she won with a fair bit up her sleeve.
What’s more, as one of the two three year olds in the race she’s in receipt of 12lbs from her better known rivals.
O’Brien could have opted for plenty of softer targets than this, but chooses the deep end for a filly who can be freely backed each way at 20/1 across the village, including, Bet365 and PaddyPower.
Back across the Irish Sea there are several meetings worthy of consideration if you fancy a day’s racing, and anyone heading to Windsor would be advised to have few quid on a horse fast becoming a favourite of Betting Directory readers as Premio Loco bids to add the Totepool Midsummer Stakes (3.00pm) to his growing collection of victories.
Hard as nails Chris Wall’s five year old won a thriller coming fast and late to nick a similar race at Goodwood at the end of May, and he can defy a penalty here to further prove he has what it takes to compete on the turf as well as the all weather.
Don’t forget the form of his Goodwood win has been really well backed up, with fourth placed Mac Love coming out and winning a Group 3 at Epsom on Oaks Day, plus sixth Perfect Stride winning the Wolferton at Royal Ascot.
The Channel 4 team will be spread across Newmarket and Newcastle, and in the feature Group 3 Criterion Stakes (3.25pm) at the first mentioned track I can’t resist having a few quid on master South African trainer Mike de Kock’s Imbongi as he makes his UK debut.
Imbongi, which when translated is the Afrikaans word for lobster, was beaten less than two lengths in Sha Tin’s Group 1 Champions Mile when last seen in April, and before that ran some cracking races in defeaat Nad Al Sheba at the start of the year. Dropping in class and trip this looks a suitable opening to grab his first win for 13 months with regular rider Kevin Shea here to take the mount.
Meanwhile up at Newcastle they’ll be trying to put the ghost of relegation from the Premiership to the back of their minds in a haze of Brown Ale, chips and betting slips as Gosforth Park stages its big day of the year for the John Smith’s Northumberland Plate.
The opening race on the card is the Group 3 Chipchase Stakes (2.05pm) and throws up one of the more obvious bets of the day as James Eustace’s flagbearer War Artist makes his delayed return to the track following a severe bout of colic.
We know he goes well fresh and the Newmarket work watchers have been crowing about his wellbeing in recent weeks.
Second in last year’s Golden Jubilee at Royal Ascot and then third in the July Cup (both Group 1’s) he can gain his first win on English soil here. Back him to win.
A little later at 3.10pm the natives have the chance to forget about forthcoming trips to such footballing hotbeds as Barnsley, Bristol, Peterborough, Plymouth and Scunthorpe as they try and solve an ultra competitive running of the race known locally as the Pitmen’s Derby.
I’ll be snapping up a bit of the 10/1 available with Boylesports and Paddy Power about Judegethemoment continuing his recent hot streak. (Look out for firms offering extra place concessions on the day of the race, one of which is victor chandler who are paying 1/4 odd 5 place for each way punters.)
Jane Chapple-Hyam, no stranger to big race success if you recall Mudawin’s 100/1 triumph in the 2006 Ebor, saddled the four year old to win last week’s Ascot Stakes, his third win on the bounce, and despite a 5lb penalty for that success Richard Hughes is once again up and can guide him home with a potent finishing kick in reserve to settle matters.
Good luck!
This Saturday’s bets:
2.05 Newcastle – Chipchase Stakes – 8 War Artist (win) – Non-Runner
3.00 Windsor – Totepool Midsummer Stakes – 3 Premio Loco (win) Best Odds 7/4 with Stan James
3.10 Newcastle – Northumberland Plate – 8 Judgethemoment (each way) @ 10/1 (Boylesports)
3.25 Newmarket – Criterion Stakes – 6 Imbongi (win) – Best price 5/2 with SportingBet
3.40 Curragh – Pretty Polly Stakes – 7 Roman Empress (each way) @ 20/1 (Bet365 & Paddy Power)
Tags: Aidan O'Brien, betting, curragh, horse racing, imbongi, irish derby, john oxx, katiyra, morning line, newcastle, northumberland plate, odds, premio loco, roman express, rte, sea the stars, tip, tips, war artist
