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Archipenko, Danak
and some weekend pointers 19 May 2007
Last
Sunday’s card at Leopardstown is likely to have thrown up a couple
of potential high-class colts in the shape of Archipenko
and Danak, and it would be no
surprise to see the pair back here for the Irish Champion Stakes in
September. That event will be run over ten furlongs, though both may
well be running over longer and shorter trips respectively in the
immediate future.
As I suggested last week, the Derrinstown is the key Derby
trial and Archipenko
ran out a comfortable winner, not hard ridden to beat his stable mate
Yellowstone by three-quarters of
a length. The Ballydoyle three-year-olds have all being coming on
for the run, and Aidan O’Brien was keen to point out that Archipenko
was particularly backward prior to the race and would come on
significantly for the outing. This bodes well for his Derby chances,
and though he faces a serious rival in Authorized,
the Kingmambo colt looks by far
the best of the Irish. He’s not sure to get the trip on breeding,
hence my belief he could prove best at a mile and quarter, but he
wasn’t stopping last weekend and double figure quotes for Epsom
underrate his chance.
John Oxx believes Danak
will show his best when upped in trip and it’s hard to argue given
the manner of his success in the Group 3 Amethyst Stakes over a
mile. The son of Pivotal was a heavily-backed 9/10f (from 6/4 in the
morning) and looked to be travelling worst of all turning in.
However, he picked up really well and showed a potent turn-of-foot
to dispatch with some decent rivals. As his trainer expected, he
improved a lot from his debut, beating Decado
and Quinmaster a lot further
than he had first time out. With the possible exception of George
Washington, who has questions to answer, the older miling scene is
weak – one only needs to look at this weekend’s Lockinge to see
that – and the unbeaten 4yo isn’t far off the best. Danak
is entered in the Queen Anne but there is a slight concern he could
be taken off his feet at that level. He remains of considerable
interest wherever he runs next, particularly if upped in trip.
It’s fairly moderate fare this weekend but I do like the
look of Hard
Rock City in the 7f conditions event at Gowran Park on
Sunday. He’s a specialist at the unique trip and though he
hasn’t won since September 2005, the 7yo looks the best horse in
the race. He goes well fresh and hails from a yard that has hit form
lately, with 2 winners from 6 runners in the past week. The likely
favourite is Lord Admiral always
finds a way to lose so he shouldn’t be much of a threat and the
3yos will need to be very decent to beat their elders here. Hard
Rock City’s biggest danger may well be himself as he
needs to be dropped on the line and can pull himself up but with
Champion Jockey Declan McDonogh booked, he will have plenty of
assistance from the saddle and the race looks likely to be run to
suit with plenty of pace on.
Hitchcock was sent off an
amazingly short price at 10/11 for a competitive 16-runner handicap
at last year’s Galway Festival, and he went very close to
justifying his market position, going down by less than 2ls when
meeting some significant interference. He has his first outing since
in a 9f handicap at Gowran and is well up to winning off his mark,
and the Ballydoyle older horses have been in particularly fine form
this term. However, at a likely short price I would prefer to look
for some each-way value as this trip is on the sharp side and he may
well be being prepared for a bigger pot, perhaps at Royal Ascot. Crossing
and Caheerloch
are the two I’m interested in, though the latter’s chance is
dependant on rain as he need plenty of cut. The Weld horse does go
very well fresh and has won at the course, and the same is true of Crossing
who is unbeaten in two starts at the Kilkenny venue. She’s been
very consistent, never finishing out of this first three in 5 runs
in handicaps, and a hike of 5lbs for her last win doesn’t look
prohibitive. She’s a strong traveller who is best suited by this
trip.
The rest of the Gowran card is forgettable stuff but Bahrain
Storm has a big chance in the last if translating his
improvement over hurdles to the flat he should be to winning off 75.
He can be a hard ride but Danny Grant has won on him in the past and
speaking of hard rides, Dover Street runs in the 4.45 and would
have a big chance in what is a poor race. Trained by a permit holder
and ridden by a 7lb claimer is hardly a ringing endorsement for the
quirky 5yo by Zafonic, but he
produced an amazing performance at Navan last time. Slowly into
stride and pulling hard early, he made headway easily 4 out and hit
the front 2 from home only to find the effort too much for him and
finished a well-beaten tenth. Horses at this grade rarely show speed
like this, and he produced a similar display at Leopardstown last
term, suggesting there is a race to be won with him somewhere.
Navan hosts an all-jumps card on Sunday with the Laurence
McLoughlin Builders Handicap Hurdle over 2m7f as the feature. Classy
chasers Sher Beau and Dix
Villez are towards the head of the weights and are
well-treated on their form over fences but Cunninghams Folly is an interesting runner off 9-11. Niall
Madden takes the ride for Martin Brassil (the Grand National-winning
combination with Numbersixvalverde)
and the 6yo racked up a three-timer at Kilbeggan last summer. Fast
ground won’t be a problem and nor will the trip, and if he’s
straight enough for his first run of the season he should go very
close. Early tissue price of 7/1 look very big.
Tony
Keenan
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