Check out the view from connections

Curragh Sunday preview: What the trainers say

By Sporting Life

Horse Racing

Sun September 15, 2024 · 2M ago

Check out the view from connections ahead of Sunday's big-race action at the Curragh.

3.35 Curragh Bar One Racing Flying Five Stakes

Bradsell will attempt to remain unbeaten for the year and replicate his thrilling Nunthorpe success at the Curragh on Sunday in the Bar One Racing Flying Five Stakes

Archie Watson’s star sprinter has been in imperious form since returning from a career-threatening injury, dashing to a comeback victory in France before romping away with York’s feature sprint last month.

Bradsell’s previous visits to the Curragh – both as a two-year-old and in this race last season – have ended in disappointment, but in the form of his life, the four-year-old has the chance to erase his Irish demons in the hands of Hollie Doyle.

“Archie seems very happy with him and we go there full of confidence,” said Oliver St Lawrence, racing manager to Fawzi Nass of Bahrani owners Victorious Racing.

“The way he won at York has always been his style, he likes to sit just off a strong pace and he is able to sustain it. I think it’s fair to say he is as good as ever this year and that is certainly how we view him.

“In the Phoenix Stakes as a two-year-old, he fractured his tibia and still managed to finish fourth – he probably fractured it coming out of the stalls in hindsight. And last year, Highfield Princess and him were drawn the wrong side and it just didn’t happen.

“Bradsell and Believing seem to be on opposite sides of the track, which is similar to York, but what will be, will be and we will go there with confidence.

“I think there are horses that will go forward on our side and I would suspect some of the horses that are more tilting their hats are probably likely to put on a strong pace.”

Chasing home Bradsell at York was George Boughey’s Believing, who has been an ever-present at the business end of the biggest sprints this year.

A Curragh winner earlier in the campaign, the Highclere Thoroughbreds-owned filly flew home from an unhelpful draw on the Knavesmire and is backed to give another solid account.

Boughey said: “She has gone from strength to strength all year and she was probably unlucky to be on the wrong side in the Nunthorpe and she was the only horse to run a big race from that side on the straight course this year.

“She goes there with every chance. She never lets anyone down and if she can keep turning up in the same form, she is going to give us a good shot.”

Also amongst the British raiding party is Clive Cox’s duo of Kerdos and Jasour.

The latter only ran last weekend in Haydock’s Sprint Cup, but makes a quick return while also testing his credentials over the minimum distance for the first time since his early two-year-old days.

“He only ran last weekend in the Haydock Sprint and the ground and a high draw were very much not in the reckoning as it worked out, but I’m very pleased with how he has come back this week,” said Cox.

“It wouldn’t have been a long-term objective, but the way the weather has been behaving, it became a possibility. He’s a horse I think would be very agreeable over five furlongs.”

The Irish contingent of Ken Condon’s Moss Tucker, Jessica Harrington’s Givemethebeatboys and Adrian Murray’s Bucanero Fuerte are others to make a quick return after appearing at Haydock.

Murray is confident that respectable appearance, when fading late into sixth, will have sharpened up his Group One winner, who races this time at the scene of some of his finest hours.

The trainer said: “We think he just needed the run at Haydock and hopefully that will have put him right for this week.

“A stiff five furlongs will be right up his street and hopefully he will run a big race. Every time you run a sprint, you get a different result, but we would be confident we would be bang there now.”

David Loughnane’s Go Bears Go will also don the Amo Racing silks of Kia Joorabchian’s racing operation and is another with fond memories of the Kildare venue from his formative years in training with the Shropshire-based Irishman.

Now a five-year-old, he is back from a spell in America with Wesley Ward, with Loughnane hopeful he is seeing signs of the old Go Bears Go in his homework.

“It’s a tough ask and the Flying Five is a competitive race – you could run the race 10 times and get a different result,” said Loughnane.

“He loves the Curragh and is in super order at home and we will take a crack and see how it goes.

“He’s coming back to his old self and definitely showing us that spark. He’s in a good place mentally and fingers crossed he can put in a good run.”

Wearing cheekpieces for the first time is the consistent Washington Heights, who will bid to follow in the footsteps of Glass Slippers and win this for Kevin Ryan.

“I think he ran a decent race in the Nunthorpe and unfortunately he was just drawn on the wrong side and needed to be drawn lower,” explained Cosmo Charlton, racing manager for owners Hambleton Racing.

“Also, the rain that came the night before might have just taken the edge out of the ground, but he has come out of the race well and is training well and we just don’t want to see too much rain.

“I think a stiff five at the Curragh will suit him, he gets the six well and is in good form. He’s in the hands of a master sprint trainer and we’re delighted Tom (Eaves) is going over to ride. Fingers crossed he can run a big race for us.”

4.45 Curragh Comer Group International Irish St. Leger

Kyprios will be a warm order to cement his status as the world’s leading stayer by regaining his crown in the Comer Group International Irish St Leger.

Aidan O’Brien’s charge looked set to dominate the division for years to come after a faultless 2022 campaign which saw him win the Gold Cup, the Goodwood Cup, the Irish Leger and the Prix du Cadran, but a life-threatening injury suffered the following spring looked set to bring his career to an end.

His trainer felt it was a remarkable feat in itself that the six-year-old made it back to the track in the autumn.

And while defeats in this race and again on Champions Day at Ascot suggested his best days may be behind him, Kyprios has re-established himself as the staying king this term by winning a second Gold Cup and Goodwood Cup ahead of his return to home soil this weekend.

“I thought there was no chance in the world that he could come back, I don’t think anybody did, so it was incredible what the people around him did,” said O’Brien.

“We’re very happy with him, he’s in very good form. He’s a hard horse to read, as he’s very lazy and only does what he has to do, but he did look very good at Goodwood the last day.”

The Ballydoyle handler already has one eye on a potential third Gold Cup success at Royal Ascot next summer, adding: “That is what we’ll be dreaming about. It’s very hard to get a Gold Cup horse, as with those classy stayers, once you get past the two-and-a-quarter, very few get that far.

“He’s an unusual horse in that he’s a Group horse over a mile and a quarter, I’d say, but he gets two-and-a-half, which is very rare.”

Kyprios

The biggest threat to Kyprios appears to be Marco Botti’s Giavellotto, who has enjoyed back-to-back Group Two wins in Britain this season – landing the Yorkshire Cup at York’s Dante meeting in May and the Princess of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket in July.

Botti feels his stable star has plenty in his favour at the Curragh on Sunday, but is under no illusions about the obstacle standing in his way.

“This has been the plan for a while and he seems in good order. The ground is hopefully not going to be too soft and it’s nice Oisin Murphy is able to ride him, as we don’t have to change a combination that has worked well so far this year,” said the Newmarket-based Italian.

“We freshened him up after Newmarket and he’s lightly-raced this year. He likes a bit of space between his races, so I don’t think that should be an issue.

“Kyprios is a very good horse and obviously it’s a strong race, but we knew that. Our horse seems to be in the same form he was before he won the Princess of Wales, so fingers crossed.”

The Willie Mullins-trained Vauban finished second to Giavellotto in the Yorkshire Cup and has since finished fourth in the Gold Cup, third in the Curragh Cup and won the Lonsdale Cup on his return to York last month.

Connections will be hoping for a positive showing to tee him up for a second tilt at the Melbourne Cup in November.

O’Brien has a second string to his bow in The Euphrates, while Giavellotto is joined on the trip across the Irish Sea by Karl Burke’s Al Qareem.

Adrian Murray’s Crypto Force and German raiders Waldadler and Nastaria complete the line-up.

3.00 Curragh Moyglare Stud Stakes

Bedtime Story puts her unbeaten record and huge reputation on the line in the Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh on Sunday.

A daughter of Frankel out of the dual Nunthorpe heroine Mecca’s Angel, Aidan O’Brien’s filly has so far lived up to her regal breeding with four successive wins including a sensational nine-and-a-half-length victory against the boys in the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot.

She had to work harder than many expected on her most recent outing in the Debutante Stakes, scoring by just half a length as the 1-16 favourite, but O’Brien is confident she will be seen in a better light when she steps up to Group One level for the first time this weekend.

“We’re happy with her and we didn’t want to give her a grueller the last day,” he said.

“She’s a big, high tempo filly – that’s what she is. When the tempo is strong and hard, she only really kicks in after the two furlong marker and it never really kicked in at all at the Curragh.

“We didn’t want to do that to her (give her a hard race) before the Moyglare.”

Bedtime Story scores at Leopardstown

The ante-post favourite for both the 1000 Guineas and the Oaks, Bedtime Story is just one of several high-class juvenile fillies residing at Ballydoyle this year.

Her opponents on Sunday include two stablemates in Exactly and Lake Victoria, with the latter also protecting an unbeaten record after following up a debut success over this course and distance with a Group Three triumph in Newmarket’s Sweet Solera Stakes.

Fairy Godmother, not seen since charging home to win the Albany at Royal Ascot, is another name to conjure with ahead of a crucial stage of the season.

“They seem a nice team of fillies. Lake Victoria is in the Moyglare as well and Fairy Godmother goes to the Cheveley Park (at Newmarket on September 28),” O’Brien added.

Ollie Sangster’s Simmering was second to Fairy Godmother at the Royal meeting and has since won the Group Three Princess Margaret Stakes at Ascot and a Group Two in France.

“She deserves to take her place and has been in very good form since Deauville,” said Sangster.

“Naturally it is a very competitive race as you would expect, but we think she deserves to be there and we would like to think she has a nice chance.

“The step up to seven furlongs really suited her at Deauville and she was strong through the line. It will hopefully be nice ground there on Sunday which will help.

“It’s my first runner in Ireland and just my second in a Group One, so we’re looking forward to it.”

The Ger Lyons-trained Red Letter was beaten a head by Lake Victoria on her introduction and confirmed that promise with a dominant display at this track in July.

Barry Mahon, racing manager for owners Juddmonte, said: “I would say (a lack of) experience would be the worry for her as she’s only had two starts whereas some of the main protagonists have had three, four or even five runs.

“That has to be a bit of a concern jumping into a Group One, but we feel she is a nice filly and the form of her two maidens is pretty good. We would like to think she’s a filly who could improve even further next year, but if she could finish in the three and run well it will be a good result.

“Bedtime Story was outstanding in Ascot and won nicely in the end the last day so she looks a high-class filly to be fair, and Ollie Sangster’s filly looked very good in France, so it’s a high-class renewal. Numerically there might not be many runners, but there are some nice fillies.”

4.10 Curragh Goffs Vincent O'Brien National Stakes

The juvenile colts get their chance to shine in the Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes, with O’Brien fielding the unbeaten hot favourite Henri Matisse, as well as Rock Of Cashel and The Parthenon.

Charlie Appleby has saddled three of the last six winners of the Group One contest in Quorto (2018), Pinatubo (2019) and Native Trail (2021) and has this year supplemented the impressive Vintage Stakes winner Aomori City.

Speaking on the Godolphin website, the Moulton Paddocks handler said: “Aomori City brings a nice profile into this and has earned his chance at this level on the back of his Vintage Stakes win.

“We felt there was marked improvement with the step up to seven furlongs at Goodwood and he deserves to be respected.”

Hugo Palmer’s Seagulls Eleven is another British challenger, while the home team also includes Joseph O’Brien’s French Group Three winner Cowardofthecounty and Adrian Murray’s Hill Road, who made a huge impression on his debut at Leopardstown a month ago.

Murray said: “It’s a big step up for him, but at home he looks a very, very good horse and his work is very good.

“We were going to go for the Group Two at Leopardstown on Saturday but Kia (Joorabchian, owner) was very keen to go for the Group One so we’ll give it a go and hopefully he will be good enough.

“He was very good first time at Leopardstown and I would say he has improved again. He has done some very good pieces of work since.”

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