Irish Eyes preview and tips for the Curragh

Recommended bets: Irish Eyes 

2pts win Only Mine in 3.55 Curragh at 9/4 - top-rated of the 12 runners can claim victory

1pt win Red Label in 4.25 Curragh at 4/1 - can bounce back in style this afternoon

1pt e.w. Camellia Japonica in 2.45 Curragh at 14/1 - price looks too big to cope with the ground

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In the last Irish Eyes column we put up a Joe Murphy-trained horse as the each-way selection. Backed from 33/1 to 9/1, Born To Play was pegged back on the line to fail by a mere head to break his maiden in the Group 3 Gallinule Stakes.    

Murphy’s team have been in good form since then; he had a winner two days later and another on yesterday’s card at HQ.    

Today, another of his string gets the each-way vote in the shape of Camellia Japonica who looks overpriced at current quotes of 14/1. She likes the Curragh, having finished a close second here on debut before returning to win over 6f on here fourth start.    

She was given a tough assignment first up this year when she finished last in a Group 3 but she ran well in handicap company last time out to finish sixth, beaten just over four lengths. Despite that decent run, she was dropped 2lb to a mark of 73, some 9lb lower than the mark she was initially allocated following her maiden win last year.

With Murphy’s yard in such good form it is worth taking a chance she will cope with the ground today.   

Despite only having a small team, Murphy has good prospects of landing the day’s feature race as well with Only Mine.    

This is a filly who, up until last weekend, was easily the best performer by her sire Pour Moi and it’s amazing that she possesses such speed given she is by a Derby-winning horse who sired last Saturday’s Derby winner.    

However, speed is her forte as she showed when beating Washington DC in a Group 3 last season and once again on her only start in Group 1 company, when she was a little over six lengths behind Quiet Reflection in the Haydock Sprint Cup on similar ground to that which she will encounter today.    

On her last start, she finished a gallant second to triple Group 1 winner Gordon Lord Byron in the Group 2 Greenlands Stakes and despite the presence of five English challengers, Only Mine is nevertheless the top-rated of the 12 runners. A repeat of her last run should see her prevail.   

Two trainers better known for their exploits in the national hunt arena look to hold the aces in the supporting race on today’s card, the Listed Silver Stakes.   

Tony Martin’s Laganore is the favourite and despite being declared for yesterday’s Group 3 Pinnacle Stakes at Haydock, where she finished fourth last year, connections eschewed that option in favour of a run at home.    

Like the aforementioned Only Mine, Laganore also won a Listed event at Newmarket and ran well in Group 1 company when third in Premio Lydia Tesio in Rome last Autumn.

Her seasonal return saw her finish a close third in the Victor McCalmont at Gowran in April before she tackled the Group 3 Blue Wind at this track. She ran well to lead inside the final half-a-furlong but was headed on the line by Jim Bolger’s Turret Rocks.    

She had subsequent Group 2 winner Creggs Pipes almost two lengths behind in third place, form which looks well up to scratch in the context of this Listed event.

At the prices however, Jessie Harrington’s Red Label just gets the vote to bounce back from a disappointing run behind Born to Play in the Gallinule. He only has 4lb to find with Laganore and, given he is only a three-year-old, he is in receipt of 11lb from her today.    

A winner of a moderate Leicester maiden for Luca Cumani last year, he ran to a much higher level when beating Group-placed juvenile Taj Mahal at Gowran on his Irish debut in April.    

That form was franked last Sunday when the Aidan O’Brien runner finished fourth, only beaten 1½ lengths, in the French Derby, so Red Label also brings excellent form into this Listed event.    

The fact that Harrington’s strike-rate is a hotter than that of Tony Martin means the 4/1 about Red Label appeals. Finally, three-year-old’s have a decent record against the older horses in this race having taken two of the past four runnings so Red Label gets the next best vote.    

Posted at 0715 BST on 11/06/17.