Our columnist with his thoughts on Saturday's Phoenix Stakes, the closure of Thurles and five horses for the trackers.
Door wide open for Aidan in Phoenix
It will be a major surprise if Aidan O’Brien doesn’t win the Keeneland Phoenix Stakes for a remarkable 18th time on Saturday. After all, he has six of the ten entries at this stage, including odds-on favourite Gstaad.
The Prix Morny is looming large so we’re not entirely sure who heads there, you’d imagine the colt will run in one and True Love the other.
The temptation to come here with Gstaad might be too much to resist. It looks a very winnable Group One for him following his victory in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot where he showed improved form to readily draw three lengths clear of his rivals with plenty in hand.
With Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin currently on the sidelines, he’s the main card the team have to play in races like this at the moment.
True Love is very talented in her own right, finishing second to Gstaad on debut at Navan before winning the Queen Mary and Railway Stakes. She’d be a very able substitute if they elect to take the colt to France.
Their stablemates Puerto Rico and Neolithic look up against it, Beautify would be a lively second strong though having outstayed Lady Iman in the Airlie Stud Stakes here last time.
The biggest danger to the Ballydoyle team looks to be Joseph O’Brien’s Green Sense. She showed improved form to win the Prix Robert Papin last time and fillies have a decent record in this race too, Babouche winning it for Ger Lyons last year and I remember Kevin Prendergast sending out La Collina to do likewise in 2011.
But this looks there for the taking for whichever A-Lister Aidan commits to it.
Time for Tipperary re-think following Thurles bombshell?
Like virtually everyone else connected to the industry, the news that Thurles Racecourse is to close with immediate effect caught me completely by surprise.
There was talk of things needing to be done at the track in terms of creating a watering system, but the announcement of its closure came as a bolt from the blue.
Whilst there may be talks ongoing and some short-term deal could be reached to keep it open for a little while longer, it does beg the question of what happens next?
The Molony family have done wonderfully to keep the privately owned track going in recent years but maybe Irish racing now needs to take stock of where we are, and where we want to be.
Construction on the new all-weather track at Tipperary is about to start but is that really the right move for the area and the sport? They plan to retain the hurdle and chase track as well but don’t race for six months of the year.
Taking a long-term view, wouldn’t it be better to seek out an alternative site in that region for a completely new racecourse that could accommodate both all-weather action and year-round turf racing for the flat and over jumps? Given Tipperary Racecourse lies on a major railway line on the edge of town, during a housing crisis, surely it would be an attractive proposition for the government or private builders looking for fresh sites? Any sale would go a long way towards funding a new venue.
A private initiative was mooted about 15 years ago for a new racecourse near Thurles to be built that included full casino facilities. Understandably that never got off the ground, but given the horse population and central location of the county, shouldn’t we be looking to find a way of getting a new racecourse built if Thurles is to permanently close?
The next move must be clearly thought out. We need a facility that caters for all the demands of our industry given there’s now uncertainty over the future landscape for independent racecourses. Certainly we can’t take them for granted any more.
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FOUR FOR THE NOTEBOOK
Tina’s Charm – sixth, 1m 3yo maiden, Naas 4th August
The Dermot Weld-trained Tina's Charm caught the eye on her debut at the Curragh, shaping well for a long way before greenness compromised her chance. It was a similar story again at Naas where she was the stable second string and again went into the notebook. It took her a while to warm to her task but the penny dropped and she finished off nicely without being unduly knocked about by her jockey.
Given the inexperience she’s shown in both races to date, plus her strength at the finish, she’s definitely one to follow, even if she needs another run and handicaps to completely flourish.
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Black Caviar Gold – third, 7f 2yo fillies’ maiden, Galway 29th July
It was always going to be a tough task running at Galway on debut, taking on horses with experience and a good level of form, but Black Caviar Gold shaped like a surefire future winner.
She found herself on the outside of the field without much cover, but as the race developed briefly looked like she might get involved in the finish before her greenness kicked in. She took plenty of time climbing the hill to get organised but, once she did so, I liked the way she came home.
Given the way the race developed for her and the demands of the track, it was a lovely introductory run. She will have learned plenty, horses who debut at Galway usually find plenty of improvement next time, and she’ll be hard to beat in similar company moving forward.
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Discover Sporting Life Plus BenefitsGreen Interlude – fifth, 7f 2yo fillies’ maiden, Curragh 20th July
The first race on Irish Oaks day has a history of producing smart horses and I don’t think this year’s race will be any different.
There plenty of encouraging performances behind the winner Sugar Island, none more so than Green Interlude in fifth. She travelled noticeably well but as the race began to develop had to be switched to get a run. It took a while for her to get going again but she was organised in the final half furlong and came home nicely under an educational ride.
Given the promise of that run and with further improvement on the cards, she should be hard to beat in a similar maiden in the coming weeks.
Carmel’s Phoenix & Rest Your Mind – fourth and fifth, 1m2f fillies’ maiden, Curragh 20th July
Queen Of The Bogs produced a very good performance to win this and the second, Noli Timere, gave the form a boost when winning at Naas on Monday. Two more to take out of the race were Carmel’s Phoenix and Rest Your Mind.
The former wore a hood on debut and, having missed the break, raced in the rear before picking up nicely as she learned what was required. She came through strongly in the final 100 yards to snatch fourth and is a filly who will be winning races.
So will Rest Your Mind who is very well bred and, in contrast to the other filly, was quite keen through the first half of the race. Even so, she briefly looked like being involved in the battle for the minor places before those exertions took a toll.
She might take another run or two to get fully tuned in but she could be one to follow later on in handicaps.
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