Irish racing tips: Tony Keenan preview and best bets for the Curragh

By Tony Keenan

17:10 · SAT August 31, 2024

Irish racing expert Tony Keenan has two selections for the action at the Curragh on Saturday.

Irish racing tips: Saturday August 31

1pt e.w Alla Stella in 2.20 Curragh at 9/2 (General 1/5 1,2,3)

0.5pts e.w Devil's Angel in 5.10 Curragh at 16/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4,5)

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Ballydoyle have had a strong August, 27 winners from 78 runners in Ireland and Britain this month, and there has been no little success at the Curragh which hosts the sole Irish card today; they had a double at the meeting on August 10th, a treble on August 17th and a four-timer here last Saturday.

Multiple winners are likely again today with Acapulco Bay and Ides Of March looking solid odds-on shots; the former shaped very well coming from a long way back on debut here three weeks ago while on the same card the latter looked much better suited to the drop to six furlongs than the longer trips he’d been racing over.

Dreamy has shifted into odds-on for the yards in the Newtown Anner Stud Irish EBF Stakes at 2:20 and has a positive profile; she is one of five Aidan O’Brien-trained juvenile fillies that have won on debut this season and three of them (Truly Enchanting, Bedtime Story and Lake Victoria) have won Group races subsequently.

The maiden she won at Goodwood was a valuable one and she looked as if the step up to a mile would be a plus in line with her pedigree, but the form is untested, and the market shape makes an each-way bet appealing.

ALLA STELLA is perhaps the way to go, and there is also the insurance of nine runners to one can come out and there will still be three places, with fillies looking for black type perhaps more likely to be kept in even if conditions are less than ideal.

She built on a pair of seven furlong runs to win her maiden well at Kempton over a mile on her penultimate start, but it is her last run that makes her interesting here. Dropped back to seven furlongs for a Listed race at Sandown, her rider was keen to make it a test and forced the pace, perhaps overdoing it.

She soon beat off the other front-runners who finished in the last three places in the end and was still in the mix at the furlong pole, only run out of second place in the final 100 yards, shaping as well as the two that filled the frame ahead of her.

Subsequent events have shown that pair to be decent fillies, the runner-up winning the Prestige next time, the third running well in the Sweet Solera, and a more restrained ride over this longer trip should see an improved effort, with the booking of Colin Keane a positive.

With the three-year-old fillies doing well against their elders, Hanalia and Wingspan stand out in the Snow Fairy Fillies Stakes at 3:25 though that is reflected in the betting while there seems to be no strong form case for anything in the Paddy Power Supporting Cancer Trials Irish Cambridgeshire at 4:35.

We are left with taking other approaches, with my token pair against the field being Vera’s Secret and Giuseppe Cassioli. Vera’s Secret put up a visually striking performance when winning here last time while Giuseppe Cassioli has improved this season and should be much better suited by this big field/strong pace setup than what he encountered last time, but it is a race where many have chances.

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In the last race proper on the card, the Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Apprentice Handicap (5:10), DEVIL’S ANGEL may be worth a small each-way play. An eight-year-old sprinter after 40 runs might not be an obvious horse-in-training to buy but the people involved know what they are doing and after a nondescript first effort in Ireland when the run was likely needed, he shaped well at Naas earlier this month in a higher level than this.

Things went wrong from the start as he was awkward at the stalls and seemed at sea early but despite his rider losing his whip, he ran on well up the centre of the track to finish behind four rivals who would not be eligible for this grade while not getting a hard time.

The handicapper has dropped him five pounds for that run while his claimer takes off a further seven, so he is long way below his last winning mark in England having shown a spark last time. His draw in stall one is a concern as is the inexperience of his rider, but he makes some appeal at the prices.

Preview posted at 0935 on 31/08/2024

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