The Curragh… Saturday 12th August
It’s Keeneland Phoenix Stakes Day at the Curragh this Saturday. The feature race is at 4:40, don’t forget to check out our YouTube and Social Media Channels for our teams’ thoughts on the big race. Alongside that, our Racing experts have looked through the rest of the card and found 2 further selections, which you can find below.
2:15 ARC American Racing Channel Irish EBF Fillies Juvenile Race
Bet Here
A LILAC ROLLA
Ballydoyle look to have quite a strong hand in this Fillies contest, but the market has reacted accordingly so we will take them on with an each-way punt on A Lilac Rolla. Trained by Paddy Twomey, she made a lot of mistakes on her debut at Cork, dwelling at the start and then racing keenly, but she stuck to her task and came through the field to win going away. The form is nothing out of the ordinary, but the overall time was just 1.57s outside of the course standard and given the inexperience that she showed when can upgrade this effort. She recorded a top speed figure of 80 at Cork, which doesn’t leave her too much more to find and she should certainly improve with the benefit of that first outing. Although she only cost €40,000 as a yearling, she is a nicely bred daughter of Harry Angel and a half-sister to 4 winners, so there is certainly some hope for her connections that she will build on her debut win. With the yard operating at a 45% strike rate, she is a big price to run her race and that may well be enough to at least hit the frame at this level.
3:25 Rathasker Stud Phoenix Sprint Stakes (Group 3)
Bet Here
COMMANCHE FALLS
British runners have a good record in Ireland so far this season and it was interesting to see several amongst the early declarations for this race. We have only been left with 1 British raider after the final declarations but Commanche Falls still appeals most to us. Already a winner over this course and distance this season when he won the Listed Jebel Ali Dash Stakes on Irish Derby weekend, he has held his form well this season. He raced in mid-division when he won here last month before coming with a sustained run to win by a length from 2 fair yardsticks in the shape of Anthem National and Mooneista. He should hold Tango Flare (4th) on that evidence, and he showed that this win was not a fluke when he backed up to win the Group 3 Hackwood Stakes at Newbury 3-weeks later, where he overcame trouble in running to get on top in the closing stages. Through that form line he should also hold Shartash and in what looks to be a relatively weak Group 2 contest, his consistency makes him a very attractive proposition.
