15:00 Curragh

Saturday 26 May 2018

All13:5014:2515:0015:3516:1016:4517:2017:55

Cold Move Irish European Breeders Fund Marble Hill Stakes (Listed)

Off time: 15:02 | Winning time: 1m 13.2s

(7)

Evasive Power⁷

Age: 2| Weight: 9-3| J: Declan McDonogh| T: M O'Callaghan

14/1

Elusive Quality colt, cost €4,000 as a yearling. Dam a half-sister to three winners in the US. Impressive winner of a competitive maiden at Navan last time and worth a crack at this level.

Form: 1

(9)

Gee Rex¹⁴

Age: 2| Weight: 9-3| J: W J Lee| T: J C Hayden

66/1

Requinto colt, half-brother to a sprint winner. Well beaten when green on debut over C&D here and needs to leave that effort behind to be playing any part in this race up in class.

Form: 5

(5)

Land Force¹⁴

Age: 2| Weight: 9-3| J: D O'Brien| T: A P O'Brien| CD

8/1

No Nay Never colt, cost €350,000 as a yearling. Half-brother to three winners including US Grade 1 winner. Dam a Group 3 winner over this trip and half-sister to an Irish 1,000 Guineas winner. Improved from debut to win over C&D and respected here.

Form: 31

(2)

Recon Mission¹⁵

Age: 2| Weight: 9-3| J: L F Roche| T: M O'Callaghan| C

16/1

Kodiac colt, cost £180,000 as a Breeze-up purchase. Dam a half-sister to a Group 1 winner over 5f. Impressive performance to win on debut here and shaped like there was plenty more to come. Should go well.

Form: 1

(8)

Scotts Honor¹⁵

Age: 2| Weight: 9-3| J: Ronan Whelan| T: P J Prendergast

33/1

Excelebration colt, cost 10,000 gns as a yearling. Dam a winner over 1m4f and half-sister to a Group 2 winner. Ran well in a C&D maiden here despite looking green in the early stages. Should improve.

Form: 3

(4)

Van Beethoven¹⁹

Age: 2| Weight: 9-3| J: R L Moore| T: A P O'Brien| D

4/6

Scat Daddy colt, dam a dirt winner and sister to the dam of a Grade 1 winner. Improved from debut to win at Naas last time in fine fashion. Would appear to be the first-string on jockey bookings and has leading claims here.

Form: 31

(1)

Wartime Hero¹⁵

Age: 2| Weight: 9-3| J: Colin Keane| T: G M Lyons| BF

10/1

Kodiac colt, cost £210,000 as a yearling. Failed to justify favouritism on debut here and much more needed dropped into this class on second start.

Form: 2

(6)

Chestnut Express

Age: 2| Weight: 8-12| J: Chris Hayes| T: D Bunyan & G O'Leary

50/1

Camacho filly, cost £42,000 as a yearling. Dam a half-sister to a useful stayer. This looks a tough ask on debut.

Form:

(3)

Fairyland¹⁹

Age: 2| Weight: 8-12| J: J A Heffernan| T: A P O'Brien| D

4/1

Kodiac filly, cost 925,000 gns as a yearling. Full-sister to useful sprinter and half-sister to a Group 2 winner. Dam a winner and half-sister to Group 1 winner Dream Ahead. Impressive winner on debut at Naas and should improve here.

Form: 1

Forecasts

Van Beethoven (4/6), Fairyland (4/1), Land Force (8/1), Wartime Hero (10/1), Evasive Power (14/1), Recon Mission (16/1), Scotts Honor (33/1), Chestnut Express (50/1), Gee Rex (66/1)

Aidan O'Brien could hold the key to this race and Ryan Moore chooses to ride VAN BEETHOVEN over stablemate Fairyland and Land Force. The son of Scat Daddy looks like an exciting prospect and the way he won last time out would suggest there's more to come. Both his stablemates are respected as well as the pair for Michael O'Callaghan who have both made winning debuts in recent weeks and Recon Mission is the preferred option from his runners.