Statue Of Liberty doubt

Aidan O'Brien is holding fire on committing the 2,000 Guineas favourite Statue Of Liberty to Saturday's Anglesey Stakes until…

Aidan O'Brien is holding fire on committing the 2,000 Guineas favourite Statue Of Liberty to Saturday's Anglesey Stakes until he has a clearer picture of the likely ground.

The Ballydoyle trainer has seven of the 10 horses left in the Group Three contest, including Statue Of Liberty who won the Coventry at Royal Ascot.

Statue Of Liberty is a 14 to 1 favourite for the Guineas with Powers and his nearest market rival is O'Brien's Railway Stakes winner, Hold That Tiger (16-1), who also holds the Anglesey entry.

However, O'Brien said yesterday: "I am not sure if either of them will run. They are all possibles but what we will run will depend a lot on how bad the going is." The ground at the Curragh ahead of the Oaks weekend is "yielding" but there is a poor weather outlook for Saturday and Sunday.

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O'Brien did confirm that his three entries for the Darley Irish Oaks will take their chance on Sunday.

"That's the plan at the moment. We haven't decided jockey plans for Starbourne and Kournakova but we will pick from our own lads down here," he said.

That means Seamus Heffernan will get the chance to add to his classic victory in last year's Entemann's Irish 1,000 Guineas on Imagine.

Starbourne was a 14 to 1 shot with Powers yesterday despite having finished only ninth behind Irresistible Jewel in Ascot's Ribblesdale Stakes.

Paddy Power bet: 8-11 Quarter Moon, 9-2 Irresistible Jewel, 6 Mellow Park, 10 Zafaraniya, 12 Lady's Secret, 14 Starbourne and L'Affaire Monique, 16 Red Rioja, 25 bar.

Heffernan will be in action at Navan tonight when just 48 runners line up for the first six races.

Ahshado is Heffernan's ride in the mile handicap for three-year-olds and there doesn't appear to be a rival in this race like there was at Tipperary last time when Ahshado was runner-up to Bubble N Squeak.

Heffernan could also be on the mark with La Motta in the five-furlong juvenile event. Steve Mahon's charge was well supported at Bellewstown when third to New Design but didn't appear to be helped that time by a wide draw.

The Desert King filly, Lily Beth, was a promising fourth to Millstreet over the Curragh Derby weekend and can step up in the fillies' maiden.

Aidan O'Brien took star colts High Chaparral and Hawk Wing out of the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes at Ascot on July 27th at yesterday's forfeit stage.

But O'Brien still has five horses in the £750,000 showpiece - the five-year-old Bach and four three-year-olds, Century City, Creekview, Della Francesca and Quarter Moon.

The British Jockey Club has no immediate plans to increase the penalties for a rider who loses a race by easing his mount too early.

However, consideration is being given to making it compulsory for a jockey to ride out all the way to the line.

There were calls for harsher punishments after Tony Culhane got the maximum ban of 21 days for dropping his hands and getting caught close home on the odds-on True Courage at Pontefract on Tuesday.

Brian O'Connor

Brian O'Connor

Brian O'Connor is the racing correspondent of The Irish Times. He also writes the Tipping Point column