Our racing expert has picked out one contender for the race at Curragh.
Given the overall record down the years of English Guineas winners trained by Aidan O’Brien, it’s easy to see why bookmakers are running sacred of Magna Gracia in the ante-post lists for the Irish version. Although he was probably favoured by how the race panned out down the golden highway up the stands side fence, he couldn’t have scored any more easily and with the likelihood of further improvement to come, the son of Invincible Spirit is hard to knock at the front end of the market.
Of those beaten at Newmarket, it’s hard to make a solid case out for many turning the tables- unless there’s a dramatic difference in going conditions on the day – so it may pay to look towards the potential new kid on the block in the shape of DECRYPT (best price 16-1) to offer the biggest resistance of the would-be upstarts.
Expertly brought along by his ultra-shrewd and largely underestimated handler, the son of Dark Angel has just had the three starts so far to date, but the fact that he’s been given time to develop and improve in steady increments means that he should arrive at the Curragh in peak condition and ready to run for his life. A big eye-catcher on his debut at the Co Kildare venue last May, the grey colt was then well-backed to deliver the goods at the second time of asking on his return visit and he didn’t let his supporters down with a performance of some merit. The way he travelled and quickened that day easily suggested a bright future lay ahead, so it was slightly disappointing that the racing public never saw him again all season.
315 days off the track, he made his eagerly-awaited return to action at Cork last month in a seven-furlong conditions event and once again, he displayed the sort of class that marked him down as a potential pattern race performer in the making and the time figures he posted at the Co Mallow venue also backed up that view. Coming from some way back that day, he simply blew his rivals away with a tremendous turn of foot (easily best sectionals on the card) and, as he wasn’t stopping at the finish, it also suggested he should have no problem staying a bit further. Hailing from a stable in cracking form this season and having already had the advantage of running twice over the stiff course he’ll meet again this coming weekend, he has a decent chance of putting his Cashel handler on the map, and at 16-1, he appeals as one of the genuine bits of value left in the race.
