Princess Highway first came to prominence when winning last year’s Blue Wind Stakes and can complete back-to-back victories in the Naas Group Three feature this evening.
Dermot Weld’s ultimate objective with this high-class filly will be to pick up a Group One prize this season and this looks a perfect kick-off point to a potentially major campaign.
A race traditionally dominated by the classic generation sees only Rehn’s Nest represent the three-year-old crop against a trio of older horses that also includes the former Phoenix Stakes heroine La Collina.
She tackles the longest trip she's ever faced here and on ratings faces a struggle against Princess Highway.
Outstanding display
The Epsom Oaks-winner Was finished only third in this race last year and Princess Highway's subsequent six -length destruction of The Fugue in the Ribblesdale at Royal Ascot was an outstanding display.
A trio of Group One runs after that began with a fine third in the Irish Oaks but petered out somewhat in the Prix Vermeille in France and the EP Taylor at Canada. However the Weld star showed enough at three overall to suggest she could be a major player at four.
“We don’t really want any more rain as the ground is soft enough for her, but I’m happy with her and it looks an ideal race to start her off in,” said Weld yesterday. “She’s in the Tattersalls Gold Cup among a number of other entries.”
Pat Smullen can score on another Moyglare hopeful, Resolute Response , while he teams up with the Dundalk winner Our Manekineko for James Nash in the last handicap.
Giants Causeway won his first race at Naas back in 1999 and his half-sister, Hanky Panky , can also get off the mark here in the mile fillies' maiden.
A number of beautifully-bred juveniles debut this evening, none more so than the 420,000 guineas purchase, Fountain Of Youth, a son of Oasis Dream and the Guineas heroine Attraction. He is bred to handle soft going better than the 200,000 guineas son of Henrythenavigator, Sudirman.
Aidan O’Brien has another Oasis Dream juvenile, the 300,000 guineas Bye Bye Birdie, in the opener but David Wachman’s Tap Dancing is by Galileo out of a mare from the family of Danehill Dancer.
