William Hill ambassador Jane Mangan previews Irish St Leger Day at the Curragh.
Curragh, Sunday
Irish St Leger Day looks a cracking day’s racing on paper, and my fancies start in the 2.25pm, the Group 2 Blandford Stakes, with American Sonja after that incredible effort in the Prix Jean Romanet in France. I think the drop in class is ideal and her trainer had a good winner yesterday at Leopardstown, so I think she’ll be very hard to beat for the team who’ve won it for the past two years.
The Moyglare at 3.00pm only features five runners, but it looks a field full of quality. Bedtime Story could be one of the best two-year-olds in training, regardless of gender, and I expect her to maintain her unbeaten record and make it five out of five for team Ballydoyle.
The Flying Five at 3.35pm looks like it’s going to be dominated by the British sprinters because their Irish counterparts just aren’t really up to scratch! Bradsell was brilliant in the Nunthorpe, and being drawn 14 of 18 is going to be a real help here, because he’s drawn all around the pace. I think Hollie Doyle’s going to be in the ideal track position and I expect him to have too much speed for his rivals.
The National Stakes at 4.10pm is always a fascinating race, and it’s interesting to see Charlie Appleby bring over Aomori City for this, having trained the winner of this race three out of the last six years. I’d say he’s a worthy rival to Henri Matisse, but I think the Aidan O’Brien colt holds all the aces. He was very good last time out in the Railway over course and distance, and the master of Ballydoyle has won 12 renewals of this race already. I can’t see past him.
I can’t oppose Kyprios in the Irish St Leger at 4.45pm. It’s hard to believe that he’s only won six Group Ones in his career because he is a bit of a winning machine. There’s not much else to it – he’s so straightforward, tactically versatile and he’ll have conditions to suit in the big one.
The sales race at 5.20pm looks very competitive but I think Canto Della Terra is the one for me. She represents the same connections as the brilliant Matron winner Porta Fortuna, having switched yards from Ado McGuinness. I think Donnacha O’Brien will have had more time to get to know her and I’m expecting a big run today.
