RACING:AIDAN O'BRIEN was out of luck with Master Of Hounds in Saturday night's Belmont Stakes in New York but goes into this week's Royal Ascot festival with a bumper Group One team ready to go.
Master Of Hounds never figured with a chance in the last leg of the American Triple-Crown and the Irish hope floundered in the sloppy conditions, finishing unplaced behind the 24 to 1 outsider Ruler On Ice.
The Kentucky Derby-winner Animal Kingdom finished sixth after his chance was ruined soon after the start when he clipped heels and jockey Johnny Velazquez briefly lost an iron. The Preakness-hero Shackleford faded to fifth after making much of the running.
O’Brien’s other Grade runner at Belmont, Viscount Nelson, was also out of the frame in the Manhattan Reserve behind another longshot winner, the 21 to 1 Mission Approved.
It is six years since Ireland’s champion trainer didn’t score at least Group One success at Royal Ascot and O’Brien goes into this week’s action with a vintage looking team headed by the Gold Cup favourite Fame And Glory and So You Think in Wednesday’s Prince Of Wales Stakes.
O’Brien also has the dual-1,000 Guineas runner-up Together for Friday’s Coronation Stakes while Cape Blanco will take on Goldikova and Canford Cliffs in tomorrow’s Queen Anne Stakes. The Ballydoyle trainer already has a tally of 17 career Group One victories to his credit at Royal Ascot.
Other major Irish hopes this week include Sole Power in the Kings Stand Stakes while Jim Bolger’s strong team of raiders will include the hugely-promising Teolane in Friday’s Albany Stakes. Bolger also runs another smart juvenile filly, Somasach, in Wednesday’s Queen Mary Stakes.
Wayne Lordan, set to team up with Sole Power tomorrow, is in action at Roscommon this evening where he will be hoping for better from Betrothed in the opening fillies maiden.
Tommy Stack’s runner was well fancied to break her duck at Killarney last month but never landed a flow in a maiden won by Further Detail. Lordan reported that day he felt she hadn’t acted on the ground.
There certainly had to be some reason as Betrothed’s previous effort was to run Dance Secretary close at the Curragh and the latter subsequently went on to be Group Three placed.
A repeat of that sort of effort should see Lordan’s mount go very close today.
Redera has won his last two starts over flights very easily and goes for a hat-trick off topweight in the two-mile handicap hurdle.
Those wins were at Wexford and Limerick but Ruby Walsh’s mount has winning form on a soft surface on the flat and should be hard to beat.
JP McManus has three runners in the concluding maiden hurdle and Hired Hand could emerge best on the back of a decent run on the flat here last time.
