John Ingles provides an overview of the key things to note on Thursday.
Bayside View can star at Sandown
Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner Bayside Boy has made a very promising start with his first crop of two-year-olds who are currently headed by the unbeaten Arapaho Gold who notched a first stakes success for his sire in a listed race at Newbury last week. That could be swiftly followed by another listed winner for Bayside Boy, however, as his daughter Bayside View has leading claims in Sandown’s Star Stakes over seven furlongs (14:55). Trained by Michael Bell, Bayside View is part-owned by Ballylinch Stud where her sire stands.
Bayside View showed plenty of ability on her debut when making fellow newcomer and odds-on favourite Met Ball pull out all the stops for a neck win in a fillies’ maiden at Doncaster last month, the pair pulling clear of the rest. Making the running again next time, Bayside View went one better in a valuable fillies’ novice at Newbury later in June, soon having her rivals strung out and winning unchallenged by five lengths, earning the ‘Horse In Focus’ flag. The 2023 winner of that Newbury contest, Shuwari, followed up in the Star Stakes.
All bar one of the field of eight have a ‘p’ on their ratings indicating they are open to improvement, and Bayside View’s chief rival looks to be Aperoll who has already contested a listed race, she too making the running when finishing a close third in the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot. Bayside View’s half-sister Jennifer Jane won the Prix Chloe at Chantilly last Sunday so both her sire and dam are having a good summer, and she can provide Oisin Murphy with his third winner of the Star Stakes.
Next step for 1000 Guineas favourite Alpha
Leopardstown’s Silver Flash Stakes (18:08) can be an important stepping stone towards the autumn’s big races for two-year-old fillies and that looks sure to be the case this year as it sees the third appearance of next year’s 1000 Guineas favourite Alpha. Boasting a superb pedigree, by Sea The Stars out of Alpha Centauri whose wins included the Irish 1000 Guineas and Prix Jacques le Marois, Alpha built on her debut promise over this evening’s course and distance in no uncertain terms when running out an impressive winner of a maiden at the Curragh late last month.
Sent off at odds on, Ryan Moore sent Alpha straight into the lead at the Curragh and while she still looked green for much of the contest, she really opened up when sent for home under three furlongs out, pulling six lengths clear at the line from stablemate Ibelieveicanfly and earning the ‘Horse In Focus’ flag. The runner-up was beaten at odds on at the Curragh on Sunday, but the third, Livenka, has won well since at Fairyhouse.
As we noted at the time, many of Aidan O’Brien’s very best fillies have contested that particular maiden over the years and some of them have gone on to the Silver Flash, most recently Composing who completed the double last year. O’Brien has won the Silver Flash 15 times, including with future Group 1 winners Happily, Love and Ylang Ylang, and will be bidding for a fifth consecutive win, those last four winners all ridden by Moore.
O’Brien rivalry in Tyros Stakes
The Tyros Stakes (18:43) for colts is the other important two-year-old race on Leopardstown’s card, with the field of six comprising of two runners each for Aidan O’Brien, Joseph O’Brien and Robson de Aguiar. Amo Racing’s trainer fields the two outsiders, while the O’Briens go head-to-head with their leading contenders Folsom Blues (Joseph) and Aix La Chapelle (Aidan), both of whom earned the ‘Horse In Focus’ flag when winning last time out.
There’s an interesting background to this clash given the fortunes of the two stables so far this month. While Joseph O’Brien has the ‘Hot Trainer’ flag after sending out 27 winners in July by the end of Tuesday, Aidan O’Brien, for once, doesn’t have the ‘Hot Trainer’ flag, having had only five winners so far in July, including of course Constitution River in the Eclipse.
Folsom Blues sets the standard here having run out an impressive winner of a maiden at Gowran on his second start last month by seven and a half lengths. However, that proved every bit as one-sided as the market predicted and the beaten horses have done nothing for the form. Preference is therefore for Aix La Chapelle who only had five rivals to beat on his debut at the Curragh but was a taking winner of a contest that has an impressive roll of honour. Stablemate Giant Sequoia (a winner since) was all the rage in the betting instead, but he could finish only third behind Aix La Chapelle who ran green before staying on to lead in the final hundred yards. With Group 1 winners Tenebrism and Henri Matisse among his siblings, Aix La Chapelle is bred to be smart and he can complete a double for Ballydoyle in the card’s two big two-year-old races.
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