ANTICIPATION OF a potentially epic Derby clash between Sea The Stars and Fame And Glory is gathering pace, with Aidan O'Brien's number one Epsom hope already earning comparison with some legendary names after his Leopardstown victory on Sunday.
Fame And Glory turned the Derrinstown Derby Trial into a solo-show over his main rival Mourayan and in the process has earned official comparison with the likes of previous Derrinstown winners, Sinndar, High Chaparral and Galileo, all of whom went on to win at Epsom.
"Fame And Glory has been raised 6lbs to a rating of 118 and I was very impressed by him," said Ireland's senior handicapper, Garry O'Gorman yesterday.
"Both Sinndar and High Chaparral were rated around the 117 ball park after winning the Derrinstown. Galileo was rated lower. But they all went and progressed to earn mid-120 ratings in the Derby. Fame And Glory certainly looks at the same level as them at a similar stage of his career," he added.
Sea The Star is still officially rated 3lbs ahead of Fame And Glory after earning a 121 mark for landing the 2,000 Guineas, a performance that provoked more questions than answers in O'Gorman's mind about whether he will stay the mile and a half at Epsom.
"I thought Sea The Stars would be the best horse this year after he won the Guineas but having seen how much speed he showed at Newmarket I have more doubts about him staying now than I did beforehand.
"He will need to stay a mile and a half properly, not just get away with it, to beat Fame And Glory. It really looks like being a race worth seeing," added O'Gorman.
Sunday's runner-up Mourayan has been officially dropped 3lbs in the ratings to 108.
Killarney Hollow Ranger to impress
Face reconstruction gets its share of bad press but Hollow Ranger can again prove to be a good advertisement with victory on the final date of the Killarney May festival, writes Brian O'Connor.
Trainer Philip Rothwell paid just €600 for Hollow Ranger at the sales and even that price looked a bit steep at Ballinrobe last year when the horse got a kick in the face. His whole face had to be reconstructed and an eye was even found down one of his sinuses. However, Hollow Ranger made a full recovery and when he finally got some decent ground at Fairyhouse last month he delivered with a defeat of Wheels Up.
The drying ground at Killarney will be perfect for the bargain-basement buy and a 5lb penalty for that Fairyhouse victory doesn't look enough to stop a follow-up. Kerry-born trainer Tommy Stack has a fine record at this track and Light Sticker looks an interesting contender for the fillies auction maiden.
Fifth on her Naas debut to Vaticano, there should be significant improvement in the Stack runner, enough to get the better of the 79-rated Audrey.
Aggie's Lad missed out on a valuable pot at the Punchestown festival but can confirm his Fairyhouse winning form with Peplum in tonight's novice chase. .
