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Guineas weekend 26 May 2007
There’s some fabulous racing at the Curragh this weekend
with the Guineas double-header taking centre-stage, and there are a
number of interesting events on the undercard, not least the
Tattersalls Gold Cup on Sunday.
As long as the ground remains good or faster, I’d rate Arch
Swing by far the bet of the meeting in the 1,000 Guineas
and I confidently expect her to reverse Newmarket form with Finsceal
Beo. Jim Bolger’s filly will be having her third run in
Group 1 company in four weeks and is likely to find the travelling
from England to France and back to Ireland beyond her. Her Longchamp
run was disappointing and I’m inclined to doubt connections’
claims that the ground was against her there as she won the Rockfel
easily on a soft surface last autumn. Arch Swing is a much scopier
filly than the favourite, and ran a cracker in the English 1,000,
considering she was drawn away from the main action and had an
interrupted preparation. She’s been top of my list of horses to
follow in 2007, and John Oxx has always believed the daughter of
Arch is a Group 1 filly. He rarely mistakes his geese for swans, and
she can repeat the Ridgewood Pearl’s 1995 success for the
Curraghbeg yard.
The colts’ classic revolves around whether you think Cockney
Rebel’s Newmarket win was a fluke, and having watched
the video on numerous occasions, I believe he won on merit. All the
money this week has been for Aidan O’Brien’s Duke
Of Marmalade but his current odds seriously overrate his
chance, especially when we consider how Geoff Huffer’s charge left
him for dead on the heath. Cockney
Rebel was a hugely impressive winner, considering he lost
ground at the start and had to pass the field on the outer, and his
potent turn-of-foot could well leave his rivals toiling as long as
the ground rides on the quick side. Creachadoir
and Excellent Art, second and
fourth in the French Guineas respectively, both take their chance
but that race looked well below the English version in terms of
quality and it would be a surprise if they could trouble the
Newmarket principals.
Dylan Thomas will be very
hard to stop in the Tattersalls Gold Cup and has never been beaten
when running on Irish soil. Danak
is obviously interesting stepping up in trip but he may just find
this coming too early in his career and Youmzain
can give the Ballydoyle hotpot most to do. Mick Channon’s 4yo is
an underrated animal, mainly because he’s done a lot of his racing
abroad but the fact remains that he’s beaten Breeder’s Cup Turf
winner Red Rocks and run Arc
victor Rail Link to less than a
length. His latest run in Dubai was a good one, considering he
didn’t have the run of the race, and while he may not be able to
match Dylan Thomas’ speed at
10f, he is sure to be winning top races over a mile and a half this
term.
The supporting group races are competitive affairs and the 6f
Greenlands Stakes has its usual quota of English raiders. Both Benbaun
and Moss
Vale are track specialists but while the former is a real
speedball over the minimum distance, Dandy Nicholls’ 6yo loves
this trip. He finished second in this race in 2005 before going one
better last term and he can repeat the dose again. Majestic
Times is the complete rag of the field, but Liam
McAteer’s stable star is another who excels over this course and
distance and is well up to running into a place on his seasonal bow,
as he has a brilliant record fresh. Eastern
Appeal turned over Modeeroch
in the Athasi Stakes over 7f at the last meeting here, and many will
fancy Jim Bolger’s filly to reverse the form in the Ridgewood
Pearl, over a furlong further and on 3lbs better terms. However, Modeeroch
has always been at her best over 7f and the betting suggested she
was well forward for her reappearance, so improvement may not be
forthcoming. Eastern Appeal may appear to be the second string on
jockey bookings with Johnny Murtagh preferring Deauville
Vision, but that adds a couple of points to her price and
she is capable of adding another Group 3 prize here.
Achilles Of Troy looked a
high-class juvenile when landing his second starts at Newmarket by 5Ls,
and is sure to be a warm order in the listed 5f event on Saturday.
However, Another Express is no slouch and
produced a fine debut over course and distance in April and looks
the value. Tommy Stack’s charge has bags of pace and a turn of
speed and should be able to track the pace from a favourable draw in
stall 2. With the jolly trading at odds-on, he is over-priced at
around 4/1.
The handicaps look typically difficult with the exception of
the last race on Saturday’s card, where Another
Jayjay will be very hard to stop. Mick Halford’s 5yo is
just about the only progressive type here, and his brother Mr
Jayjay won a number of handicaps for the yard a few years
back. If he takes the step up to 10f in his stride, he should have
too many guns for his opponents. The ex-German filly Kapera
ran out an impressive winner on her Irish debut at Leopardstown and
may be capable of following up in Sunday’s 12f Premier Handicap
while Timarwa
looks the most likely winner of the closing maiden, providing she
goes into the stalls this time around.
Tony
Keenan
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