Dermot Weld's highly rated Muakaad could have to overcome Godolphin's 1999 2,000 Guineas winner Island Sands if he is to win Sunday's Ridgewood Pearl Desmond Stakes but Weld is already resigned to losing another of his smart three-year-old's Grand Finale who will continue his career in America.
Island Sands hasn't run due to persistent feet problems since finishing fifth to Saffron Walden in last year's Irish Guineas but a decision will be taken today if he will reappear at the Curragh.
"I would say it's 50-50 as to whether he will run in the Desmond or in the Prix Quincy at Deauville (Friday week.) Basically it comes down to which ever race we think he has a better chance in," the Godolphin spokesman Simon Crisford said yesterday.
Sheikh Mohammed's operation also have Siege in the Curragh's Group 3 contest but he is an unlikely runner and if Island Sands does reappear in Ireland it will be without Frankie Dettori who is committed to riding in Deauville on Sunday.
Weld however has alredy already committed Muakaad to the mile race leaving Jammaal to fly the Rosewell House flag in the Group 2 Royal Whip Stakes on the same card. Grand Finale, the only horse ever to beat the double Derby winner Sinndar, has run his last race for Weld however.
The Moyglare Stud owned colt reappeared after a layoff to win the Listed Ballyroan Stakes at Leopardstown last Sunday but will travel to New York at the end of the month to join trainer Christophe Clement.
"He will travel with two of our other three-year-olds Last Call and Legal Jousting and all three will join Christophe Clement. The plan is to keep Grand Finale in training next year. There are many more opportunities for four-year-olds in America than there are in Ireland and hopeful we can get a race into him at Belmont before Christophe takes his horses to Florida for the winter," said the Moyglare manager Stan Cosgrove yesterday.
Grand Finale beat Sinndar in the Ballysax Stakes at Leopardstown in April but didn't race again until last weekend when he won by half a length over 12 furlongs.
Weld could disrupt the normal pattern of Aidan O'Brien success in two-year-old races when he runs La Stellina in the Thomastown Maiden at Tipperary's last evening meeting of the year.
The Ballydoyle runner in the race is Jungle Moon, a Sadlers Wells filly from a distinguished American family, but while she clearly has to be respected, there was a lot to like about the way La Stellina ran on her previous start at Cork.
She was beaten by Jungle Moon's stable mate Black Minaloushe but that colt ranks pretty highly among the Ballydoyle juvenile battalion and La Stellina's experience alone makes her a value option against the likely favourite.
The Weld runner in the mile and a half maiden, the Satish Sanan owned Amplified, should also be hard to beat but O'Brien looks likely to strike first as the Hennessy filly Dawning looks the one to be on in the opener despite the presence of the double runner up Patinham.
O'Brien can also double up in the seven furlong Andersen Race courtesy of Shoal Creek. Predictably well beaten in the Irish Derby Shoal Creek nevertheless comes here with a 95 rating which is understandable considering his form ties in with the subsequent Group 3 winners Takali and Quality Team.
Shoal Creek's opposition includes the Oxx runner Kerataka and the disappointing Sand Partride while Weld's Galway winner Step With Style doesn't look the most straightforward ride. The O'Brien runner looks the safest option.
