Fran Berry best bets for the Curragh on Friday

Recommended bets

1pt e.w. Lope Y Fernandez in 6.40 the Curragh at 5/1

1pt e.w. Tauran Shaman in 7.15 the Curragh at 8/1

1pt e.w. Dark Vader in 5.10 the Curragh at 15/2

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The question mark over Siskin heading into Friday’s Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas is the trip. Is he going to stay a mile?

I spoke to Ger Lyons a couple of weeks ago and sensed in a normal year he’d have liked to go to Newmarket to try the trip out rather than the Curragh but as we all know this is no normal year.

It’s not going to easy for him and I’m sure Ballydoyle with their multitude of runners will try to make it a real stamina test but Siskin is a class horse, he relaxes well and is going to give himself every chance of getting home.

His form isn’t the easiest to weigh up. He’s beaten Monarch Of Egypt twice, and wasn’t overly impressive on the second occasion, but the ground there would have been softer than he’d ideally like. He’s clearly talented and could even improve for a step up to a mile. If he does he will be hard to beat but his price reflects that.

It’s difficult to know where to even start with the Aidan O’Brien sexet but I think LOPE Y FERNANDEZ is the pick of them. Seamie Heffernan rides him and I don’t think we’ve seen the best of him yet. He came up short against Pinatubo a couple of times, including when strongly fancied for the Chesham at Royal Ascot.

There wasn’t much between him and stablemate Armory in the National Stakes but I think the mile on quicker ground will really suit Lope Y Fernandez.

Vatican City is the interesting one. He won his maiden at Dundalk very well and is from a great family which includes Gleneagles. Armory would only be my third pick of the O’Brien team behind him.

Jessica Harrington’s Free Solo warrants a mention having won a Leopardstown maiden last season. The stable's horses couldn’t be going any better and he created a huge impression in that race and the fourth horse won the Derrinstown Stud DerbyTrial this week.

Free Solo is beautifully bred, a son of Six Perfections, and an exciting prospect. So is Michael Halford’s Sinawann. He won his maiden and then chased home Mogul on Irish Champions Weekend when he might not have got the run of the race.

He might want further but could still go well here although the bet for me is Lope Y Fernandez each-way at around 5/1.

We finally get to see the Paddy Power Irish Lincolnshire which is usually run in March and I like TAURAN SHAMAN.

I’ve already mentioned how well the Harrington team are going and he’s only run three times, winning twice and finishing fifth in the Prix Daniel Wildenstein at ParisLongchamp.

He won at Killarney and then overcame inexperience to win a competitive handicap at the Galway Festival. He’s six pounds higher here but I think he’s open to any amount of improvement and is my bet in a very deep race.

Dermot Weld’s horse Bashiry is a danger. It’s interesting they’ve kept him as a four-year-old, he’s from a good family and hasn’t really been tested yet. Bowerman and Onlyhuman both warrant mentions too.

In the Equine MediRecord Handicap I like DARK VADER for Joseph O’Brien. He ran in the Guineas trial on Tuesday and for my money didn’t get home over seven furlongs. He’s back to six here and has a very promising claimer aboard in Dylan Browne McMonagle. He's won on him before and this is a sprinter to follow.

Elsewhere on the card, there’s a good race for the Coolmore Magna Grecia Irish EBF Mooresbridge Stakes. It’s a Group Two contest but is almost a Group One this year. Last year's Irish Leger winner Search For A Song is in there, as is Irish Derby winner Latrobe and then there’s Fleeting.

She has threatened to win a big one. Connections are trying to see if Search For A Song is going to be a mile-and-a-half filly this year and given her freegoing ways it’s entirely possible. She has a pacemaker in the race and that could really suit Fleeting. She’ll love having something to aim at.

There are two horses I’m mad keen on in the Coolmore Ten Sovereigns Gallinule Stakes, Crossfire Hurricane and Choice Of Mine. Both are trained by Joseph O’Brien. They are stepping up from Dundalk in the winter and venturing out onto grass and rate exciting prospects.

The former is a son of Kitten's Joy who will thrive for the step up to ten furlongs on turf and could be very good. Choice Of Mine is a big, raw horse and a potential improver. Both are colts to follow although the yard’s horses have run as though needing their first outing back. Mystical is a worthy favourite having been placed in a Group One but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Crossfire Hurricane shake him up.

Posted at 1705 BST on 11/06/2020

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