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Irish racing tips: Tony Keenan preview and best bets for Leopardstown
Irish racing expert Tony Keenan looks to follow up Saturday's 20/1 winner and has two big-price selections for the Curragh.
Irish racing tips: Saturday September 15
0.5 pt e.w. Hanalia in the Curragh 2.25 (1,2,3 1/5 10/1 General)
0.5 pt win Soaring Monarch in the Curragh 5.55 (12/1 General)
The Curragh will do well to approach the drama of a thrilling Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown yesterday but there is no lack of top class racing today with four Group 1, Aidan O’Brien with the favourite in three of them and – unusually – no runner in the other.
Kyprios is the shortest of them in the Comer Group International Irish St. Leger at 4:45 and the most solid and his two well-fancied juveniles, Bedtime Story and Henri Matisse, though trading odds-on face quite deep fields.
The Moyglare Stud Stakes (3:00) may only have five runners but four of them count in a big way and my lean would be to Lake Victoria. Red Letter should have beaten her on debut, but Aidan O’Brien can get untold improvement from start to start which was the case with Lake Victoria second time up when she won at the July Meeting, her trainer commenting beforehand that she had a break in between so there could be even more to come.
Henri Matisse doesn’t have a huge reputation that some Ballydoyle runners in the Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes (4:10) have had in the past and his win last time in the Futurity was a little hard to interpret: was his jink late on a sign that he had loads in hand or a hint of temperament?
The one that should get closer to him from that race is Scorthy Champ who was off a break but still ran an excellent third, travelling as well as anything before being briefly outpaced and keeping on well late. He was a rare winning juvenile debutant for Joseph O’Brien this season which is a pointer to his ability.
In terms of selections, the shoulder races might be more interesting. The Irish Oaks looks the key race for the Moyglare Jewels Blandford Stakes at 2:25 given the subsequent exploits of You Got To Me and Content at York and both Purple Lily and Elizabeth Jane have clear claims having finished third and fourth respectively that day, though the former would prefer slower ground and the latter comes from a yard that are 5 winners from 87 runners since the start of July, albeit Dermot Weld has an excellent record in this race.
Perhaps the fifth from the Irish Oaks, HANALIA, is most interesting at the prices. She had been impressive in winning the Naas Oaks Trial in late June straight out of a maiden, sweeping from rear to lead close home and looking like a well-run 10 furlongs suited ideally with connections voicing concerns about her getting a mile-and-a-half afterwards.
They then decided to supplement her for the Irish Oaks despite those trip doubts, and while she ran well to finish just behind Purple Lily and Elizabeth Jane while meeting trouble, she raced keenly and looked like shorter would suit.
Johnny Murtagh opted to run her over nine furlongs last time, but his pre-race comments suggested it was a prep for this race, the trip looking to sharp but the filly shaping quite well in making up ground from three furlong to the one furlong point before that effort told.
This afternoon’s trip should suit better and there looks to a reasonable amount of pace in the race too.
The closing Irish Stallion Farms EBF Northfields Handicap at 5:55 is not as competitive as recent years, a field of 14 declared when 20 or more runners is typical, and SOARING MONARCH looks overpriced this morning.
He is in better heart than his form figures this season suggest having had no chance on return over a mile at Galway when held up in a slowly-run race before quickly showing himself in good order the following day in a mile-and-a-half premier handicap at the same track, going like the winner out of the dip only to not get home and finish third.
Alan McIntyre then opted to drop him in distance for the Irish Cambridgeshire last month where everything went wrong; not only did he meet the world of trouble coming from rear over a trip that is on the sharp side for him, but he was also in the wrong part of the track, the far rail riding slower on that card, yesterday’s last race winner at Leopardstown Vera’s Secret already emerging from that side.
10 furlongs is probably more his thing at this point in his career and he has a good draw here too in a race where there is not a huge amount of pace but there are concerns about the ground being a little quick and this being his fourth start in a short space of time. Even so, he looks interesting at the prices.
Preview posted at 0849 on 15/09/2024
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