A Curragh Group One where both Aidan and Joseph O’Brien look outgunned underlines apparent cross-channel dominance of Saturday’s Derby Festival feature.
Only three of the eight runners for the €300,000 Cairn Community Games Pretty Polly Stakes are trained in Ireland, and they appear to have a mountain to climb against some heavyweight British talent.
O’Brien Snr’s sole hope is Content, rated a 20-1 outsider by many firms, while his son’s pair Lumiere Rock and Maxux have had their limitations exposed at the top level in the past.
Up against them is Emily Upjohn, an increasingly hit and miss mare whose A-game nevertheless is amongst the best in Europe.
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A bird-strike on the plane meant to transport her to the 2022 Irish Oaks prevented what seemed a classic open-goal but she finally makes it to Irish racing HQ for a race where she’s officially top-rated.
That heady 119 mark theoretically gives the Gosden star a 4lbs swing on her nearest rival Bluestocking who returns to the Curragh with some unfinished business of her own.
Ralph Beckett’s filly looked to have last year’s Irish Oaks in her grasp only for Ryan Moore’s remarkable late lunge on Savethelastdance to deny her.
That was the most painful of a series of top-flight near misses as a three-year-old but Bluestocking a much more formidable proposition when returning to action with aplomb at York last month.
There she trounced Emily Upjohn’s stable companion Free Wind by six lengths in the Middleton Stakes over 1¼ miles. Galway-born rider Rossa Ryan again takes the mount as he chases a first Group One in his homeland.
In contrast, Emily Upjohn’s season to date has been much less straightforward. Out of the frame in Meydan’s Sheema Classic March, she was badly in need of the run when failing to fire in the Coronation Cup behind Luxembourg.
This will also be her first run at 10 furlongs since chasing home Paddington in last year’s Eclipse.
“I think in fairness to her, we trained her in the winter to go to Dubai and it doesn’t agree with a lot of fillies, so then I let her down afterwards through April and she really did herself well.
“I was having a little trouble getting her back in the zone again and she very much needed her race in the Coronation. She was carrying plenty of weight and condition,” John Gosden explained.
Other unfinished business accompanies last year’s runner-up Stay Alert whose trainer Hughie Morrison remains convinced she should have got the race in the stewards’ room.
Her successful return to action at Newmarket reads impressively through the runner-up Running Lion although a literal interpretation of that form might be misleading.
Tasmania is something of an unknown quantity having a first run for Sir Mark Prescott. Last year’s French Oaks third impressed sectional time experts with that ‘Diane’ effort.
Given the impression she made at York, the mature Bluestocking can finally secure Group One honours.
“I’ve been very pleased with her since York. We were keen to stick with running against our own sex and this is what the race was written for, these fillies turning up to take each other on. We’re looking forward to doing exactly that,” Beckett said.
Top US jockey Johnny Velazquez continues his Irish sojourn with three Curragh rides on Saturday and four more on Sunday’s Derby programme.
The 52-year-old Puerto Rican who has won almost 7,000 races, and almost every American contest worth mentioning, won’t be in Group One action but does team up with Aidan O’Brien in Saturday’s opener.
Velazquez rides the newcomer Bernard Shaw in a juvenile maiden won a year ago by no less than City Of Troy. Bernard Shaw is one of a Ballydoyle trio making their debuts. Snowfall’s half-brother, Rock Of Cashel, looks the stable No. 1.
Charlisse could be a more likely first Irish winner for Velazquez in the following sprint handicap.
A three-year-old Ballydoyle newcomer in the finale is John Steinbeck although Arnaman may prove hard to beat on his first start for Ken Condon. His Dundalk debut in March saw him finish runner up to an odds-on shot and the third horse has subsequently won.
