Fran Berry's Irish racing preview ahead of Irish Derby day at the Curragh
Fran Berry's first two Curragh bets have already won - check out his final selection on the Irish Derby card.
Recommended bets
2pts win Buckhurst in 4.45 Curragh at 9/4
1pt win Ancient Spirit in 5.45 Curragh at 4/1
1pt e.w. Romantic Proposal in 6.15 Curragh at 7/1
For details of advised bookmakers and each-way terms, visit our transparent tipping record
I started doing various previews ahead of the Irish Derby in midweek and, hand on heart, I'm still none the wiser. I don't really have a clue how it's going to unfold.
I'm a big fan of Crossfirehurricane and he's probably the horse I like the most but if it's a gruelling race then it might just stretch him too much stamina-wise.
Seamie Heffernan taking the ride on Santiago is obviously a big plus but dropping back in distance on the Derby course, quite quickly after winning the Queen's Vase at Royal Ascot, isn't really an ideal scenario.
I do actually keep coming back to his Aidan O'Brien stablemate Dawn Patrol at the prices. There was real talk of him being a genuine Derby horse before his maiden run at Leopardstown behind Tiger Moth and he ran okay in the end. If he's improved again I wouldn't be surprised to see him taking a share of the spoils but he's not alone in that bracket.
I do have a couple of fancied elsewhere on the card and the tactics are going to be important in the Alleged Stakes. It'll be interesting to see if they change tactics with Sir Dragonet and maybe even make the running with him, but I feel a lot of people were harsh on Ryan Moore as the best horse on the day won the race in my opinion.
I think he probably just wants more than 10 furlongs to be seen at his best, as we saw at Chester and in the Derby as well as the St Leger, and he's been beaten on this track before.
I'm a big fan of BUCKHURST and I thought he ran a huge race on his comeback over a mile at Navan. At the prices he appeals as while he has to give Sir Dragonet a 3lb penalty, I feel we've still not seen the best o Joseph O'Brien's horse. This is his trip and this is his track.
The Celebration Stakes - the mile Listed race at 5.45 - has an interesting dynamic. It's on the round track, which is called the new mile, and with the 13 runners it could be very much a speed-favouring race. You're on the turn all the way to the straight and forward-going horses will be well suited.
ANCIENT SPIRIT was good when beating Buckhurst and Shane Foley was keen to go on with him despite a slow start there. Tactically he could be better suited to the track than Bowerman, who is drawn wide and likes to take more of a lead.
Ancient Spirit is ideally an each-way play here but at the current prices I'm happy to chance a small win bet.
The Dubai Duty Free Millennium Millionaire Handicap features Ice Cold In Alex who will be a familiar name to regular readers and he looks like being favourite.
He's obviously got the ability to go well again and has a shout but I'd be inclined to look elsewhere as he clearly needs luck in running.
The horse I'm most interested in is ROMANTIC PROPOSAL, trained by Eddie Lynam. Eddie hasn't had a winner yet since the resumption of racing which is a little bit of a worry but this filly ran very well on her debut last year and you'd hope, given it's a premier handicap, that she's fit and ready to go.
She was placed a couple of times over a mile but was a bit of a revelation when dropped back to this seven furlong trip. She won a weak maiden very well at Cork but followed up in a decent handicap later. She's up 12lb and still open to plenty of improvement, as well as being versatile on the ground.
I'll put her up each-way with the firms offering five places.
Posted at 1115 BST on 27/06/20
Responsible gambling
We are committed in our support of responsible gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
Sky Bet's responsible gambling tools are detailed here and if you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133, or visit begambleaware.org.
Further support and information can be found at GamCare and gamblingtherapy.org.
Next Off
Most Followed
MOST READ RACING
