HORSE RACING:THE JOHN Oxx-Mick Kinane team already have a prime Derby candidate in Sea The Stars and Beauty O'Gwaun can earn an Oaks place at Epsom if successful in this evening's Blue Wind Stakes at Naas.
The Oxx-trained Four Sins won this Group Three event two years ago before running fourth in the Oaks but Beauty O’Gwaun is already being spoken of as a Classic candidate despite having had only one career start to date.
That came at the Curragh last October when the Rainbow Quest filly ran out a three-length winner over The Bull Hayes.
Despite that relative lack of profile, however, Beauty O’Gwaun has already been the subject of ante-post support for the Oaks and is currently as low as 14 to 1 to win at Epsom.
Oxx runs another three-year-old in Timabiyra but the stable’s number one is also going to have to contend with a number of smart older horses including Chinese White who ran a fine first race of the season when a half-length runner-up to She’s Our Mark at Gowran.
Tackling older horses is a tough task for the Classic generation at this time of year but Beauty O’Gwaun can justify her tall reputation.
Another performer with a big reputation at Naas tonight is Steinbeck, an Aidan O’Brien-trained two-year-old that makes his debut out of maiden class in the six-furlong conditions race.
Gold Bubbles and King Ledley are already winners but reports from Ballydole on Steinbeck, a son of Footstepsinthesand, have been most encouraging and he can score first time of asking.
Dance Pass should be hard to beat in the concluding fillies maiden on the evidence of a fine fourth to Maoineach at Leopardstown last month while the Dermot Weld team could also score in the six-furlong handicap with Cnocan Gold who was nailed on the line by Dafaroun over seven last time.
Most of Aidan O’Brien’s string are improving for a run and Johann Zoffany can prove the point in the mile-and-a-quarter maiden.
Looking further ahead, the Newmarket 2,000 Guineas runner-up, Delegator, has been described as “very likely” to try and score a Classic victory in the Curragh Guineas on Saturday week.
Delegator’s Irish-born trainer, Brian Meehan, had originally pinpointed Royal Ascot’s St James’s Palace Stakes as a target for the colt after he chased home Sea The Stars at Newmarket.But now a tilt at the first Irish Classic of the season is on the cards.
“Delegator has taken the Guineas very well and we would have to say he is very likely to head for the Curragh provided the ground is good,” Meehan reported yesterday. “In addition to the fact he is in such good form we have to consider that the ground at Royal Ascot could get quite firm.”
Walsh fractures ankle Faces six-week lay-off
Champion jockey Ruby Walsh faces up to six weeks on the sidelines after confirmation yesterday that he fractured an ankle in a fall at Killarney on Sunday. Walsh gave up rides at Killarney on Monday and Tuesday complaining of feeling sore after the fall but a visit to his surgeon yesterday revealed that he had fractured his left ankle.
“Ruby will be out for between four to six weeks,” Walsh’s sister and agent, Jennifer, said. Walsh sustained the injury when his mount Imperial Hills fell at the third last flight of the Ladbrokes Handicap Hurdle on Sunday. The horse subsequently had to be destroyed.
