News: New Approach will lead an Irish team of nine horses into tomorrow's prestigious Emirates Airlines Champion Stakes day card at Newmarket with European juvenile championship honours on the line for Jim Bolger's colt.
A total of 11 horses have been declared for the Darley Dewhurst Stakes with Godolphin's Rio De La Plata attempting to reverse National Stakes form against New Approach and Raven's Pass bidding to maintain his unbeaten record despite fears in both camps about ground conditions turning too soft.
Aidan O'Brien will be represented by the maiden Greatwallofchina but he is an outsider compared to the general 6 to 4 favourite New Approach who will try to emulate his former stable companion Teofilo who completed an unbeaten five-run streak in last year's Dewhurst.
O'Brien will be doubly represented in the Champion Stakes with Eagle Mountain and Mount Nelson among the final field of 12 declared yesterday.
Jimmy Fortune will team up with Mount Nelson, a 14 to 1 shot with some firms, while Johnny Murtagh will be on board Eagle Mountain for the first time since finishing runner-up to Authorized in the Epsom Derby.
It will be Eagle Mountain's first start since winning the Royal Whip at the Curragh in mid-August and he is rated one of the main dangers to the ante-post favourite Notnowcato who joins Maraahel in the Michael Stoute team for the race.
"The rain has been a help for Notnowcato. Good is ideal but softer won't hurt him," Stoute said yesterday.
"He just doesn't like it rock hard because he's a heavy topped fellow and he's five now with some mileage on the clock."
Stoute trails O'Brien by almost £800,000 in the British trainers championship but victory for O'Brien tomorrow would take the Irishman over the £3.5 million prize-money mark for the year in Britain.
A double fixture in Ireland today includes a €25,000 seven-furlong handicap at Dundalk's polytrack that looks a decent opportunity for Miss Gorica to go one better than she did over the course and distance behind Dynamo Dancer last time.
Dermot Weld has a powerful juvenile team this year, including Domestic Fund who will run in next Friday's new $1 million Breeders' Cup juvenile turf at Monmouth Park, so his newcomer On Duty in the mile maiden will be of interest tonight. However, the Danehill Dancer newcomer Ice Queen is reputed to be decent.
Weld, however, could well score in the opening maiden where Radical Rave holds a leading shout on the basis of a run behind Ms Victoria last June.
Gowran's jumping meet sees the fencing debut of Rocket Ship in the Beginners Chase and Noel Meade's former smart novice hurdler should be hard to beat. Twin Joy, third in a good Tralee bumper last May, looks a bet in the last.
