John Ingles provides an overview of the key things to note on Sunday.
Three points of interest
Mutasarref can notch another course win at Leopardstown
Leopardstown’s listed Amethyst Stakes (14:55) over a mile has attracted a field worthy of a higher grade contest. Indeed, a couple of the runners, Diego Velazquez and Mutasarref, finished first and second in the Group 2 Solonaway Stakes over this course and distance on Irish Champions Weekend last September.
The same pair look the two to concentrate on again here, though the outcome may be different this time. Diego Velazquez took a while to find his feet for Aidan O’Brien last season but a drop back in trip suited him well and he won the Meld Stakes at Leopardstown over nine furlongs by seven lengths before beating Mutasarref with plenty in hand by a length and a half in the Solonaway. There were seemingly big-race options for Diego Velazquez overseas later last year but he wasn’t seen out again. He holds Group 1 entries at Royal Ascot and in the Eclipse in coming months so connections still have their eye on better races for him, and he holds strong claims here.
However, Mutasarref meets Diego Velazquez on 7 lb better terms than last season and also has the advantage of having had a run already this year. That was in the listed Heritage Stakes over today’s course and distance last month when beaten a neck by Lord Massusus but is weighted to get the better of that rival, who was fifth in the Solonaway, on this occasion. A most reliable sort for ‘Hot Trainer’ Ger Lyons, Mutassaref also has a very good record at Leopardstown, with his four wins last season, when better than ever, including a couple of Group 3 contests at the track, the Ballycorus Stakes and Desmond Stakes. He can prevent Diego Velazquez from making a successful return.
Ballydoyle second string worth a look in Derby Trial
Aidan O’Brien fields three of the five runners in Leopardstown’s Derby Trial (15:30), a race he has largely dominated since Risk Material provided his first winner in 1998. It’s a long time now since Galileo and High Chaparral won this on the way to following up at Epsom early this century, but O’Brien’s sixteenth and most recent winner, Los Angeles, went on to win last year’s Irish Derby after finishing third to stablemate City of Troy at Epsom.
Wayne Lordan’s mount Delacroix looks the form pick here, having won the Autumn Stakes before going down by just a nose to Hotazhell in the Futurity Trophy Stakes at Doncaster. Delacroix made a successful reappearance over course and distance in the Ballysax Stakes, and that form has since been franked by runner-up and stablemate Lambourn, winner of this week’s Chester Vase.
However, O’Brien’s other son of Dubawi, Acapulco Bay, looks interesting stepping up to a mile and a quarter for the first time and could find the required improvement to lower Delacroix’s colours under Billy Lee. He was less than two lengths behind Delacroix when runner-up in a maiden at the Curragh on his debut last August before landing the odds in a similar event there later in the month. A setback kept Acapulco Bay off the course in the autumn, but he returned with an encouraging second to stablemate Trinity College in a minor event at Naas in March when clear of the rest, earning the ‘Horse In Focus’ flag. Bred to be well suited by the extra two furlongs here, Acapulco Bay wouldn’t be Ballydoyle’s first winner of this race to upset a shorter-priced stablemate.
Gunship looks another winner for Ferguson at Newcastle
Newmarket trainer James Ferguson has an excellent record at Newcastle over the last five seasons, with 12 winners from 54 runners making for a 22% strike rate and a healthy level-stakes profit. Most recently, Ferguson won the Marathon Handicap on All-Weather Finals Day at Newcastle last month with the smart Wonder Legend, ridden by Danny Muscutt.
The trainer and jockey look to have another good chance with another son of Sea The Stars, Gunship, in Newcastle’s mile and a quarter handicap for three-year-olds (16:00). Gunship made a winning debut at this course in a novice over a mile last December and shaped promisingly when making his handicap debut last time when stepped up in trip for his first start on turf at Sandown. While the first two were handily ridden, Gunship got stuck in traffic further back before keeping on well up the rail in the final furlong and finished with running left in third behind Sing Us A Song, earning the ‘Horse In Focus’ flag.
Gunship is bred to be a smart colt, being a half-brother to Irish 2000 Guineas winner Phoenix of Spain, and heading the Timeform weight-adjusted ratings and with further progress likely, he should take plenty of beating.
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