Racing:Rite Of Passage features among 17 possible runners in the Irish Field St Leger at the Curragh on Saturday. Dermot Weld's classy dual purpose performer has been off the track since his battling success in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot but looks set for a weekend return as he bids for another Group One triumph.
Weld, who famously trained Vintage Crop to win the race twice and the remarkable Vinnie Roe to win it four times, has a strong hand with top-class mare Profound Beauty also in the reckoning.
There is an interesting team set to represent Britain with Saeed bin Suroor entering Kite Wood, Michael Jarvis leaving in Opinion Poll and Brian Meehan represented by Dangerous Midge.
Mark Johnston’s Eastern Aria, Jeremy Noseda’s Sans Frontieres, John Dunlop’s Tactic and the Mick Channon-trained Halicarnassus could also cross the Irish Sea. Charlie Swan has supplemented the in-form Rajik, while another interesting possible is Pop Rock.
The nine-year-old, formerly trained in Japan, was a narrow second in the 2006 Melbourne Cup and is currently being trained in Ireland at nearby Rangers Lodge on the Curragh by Takashi Kodama.