Tony McFadden of Timeform provides an overview of the key things to note for Saturday’s racing, including a Curragh maiden with a classy roll of honour.
Three points of interest
Clues to be gained from Curragh maiden?
The seven-furlong maiden (13:15) that kicks off the card at the Curragh was used as the launchpad last season for City of Troy who went on to be crowned champion juvenile and was last seen registering an emphatic victory in the Derby.
Dual classic winner Gleneagles also features on this maiden’s roll of honour, while Anthony Van Dyck, the 2019 Derby winner, was beaten here on debut, so this is a contest that O’Brien likes to use as a stepping stone for a promising prospect.
O’Brien, who has won five of the last ten editions, saddles three runners this year, with Rock of Cashel looking the number one based on the booking of Ryan Moore.
Rock of Cashel, named after the historic site located not far from O’Brien’s Ballydoyle base, boasts an excellent pedigree as he is by Wootton Bassett and out of Group 3 winner Best In The World who is herself a sister to Arc winner Found. Best In The World has already made her mark as a broodmare by producing Snowfall, the Oaks and Irish Oaks winner of 2021, so there will be plenty of interest in how Rock of Cashel fares on debut.
Noble Dynasty to reward patience of powerful connections?
Noble Dynasty, now a gelded six-year-old, hasn’t hit the heights expected when Godolphin bought him as a yearling in 2019. But when you fetch 3.6 million guineas – the joint-highest fee for a colt in Tattersalls Book 1 history – then those expectations are going to be lofty.
Noble Dynasty, a half-brother to St James’s Palace Stakes winner Barney Roy, has experienced a rather truncated career and missed all of 2023. But the fact his powerful connections have elected to persist with him suggests they retain belief that he can make his mark in Group company, and his performance on the Rowley Mile last month would suggest he’s well worth his place in the Criterion Stakes (15:25) on the July Course on Saturday.
Noble Dynasty possibly had a fitness edge following his comeback run at Meydan a couple of months earlier, he was seen to good effect under a well-judged front-running ride from William Buick and the runner-up has clearly progressed since, but, even so, beating subsequent Buckingham Palace Stakes winner English Oak by a couple of lengths while giving him 15 lb has to be considered a smart effort. In a higher grade on Saturday, Noble Dynasty gets the chance to prove he’s as good as he looked last time.
Santa Savana a rare debut winner for Millman
Prior to Santa Savana‘s success at Leicester last month you had to go back to Handytalk’s victory at Windsor in 2015 to find the last horse trained by Rod Millman to make a winning debut on the Flat.
Santa Savana, who is by a top sire in Havana Grey and out of a useful mare in Sufficient, has a classier and sharper pedigree than most of the yard’s debutants who had been beaten since Handytalk’s victory, but, given the stable’s patient approach, it still bodes well for her prospects that she was able to win at the first attempt.
It could also be telling, regards the esteem she’s held in, that Oisin Murphy was booked for the ride at Leicester.
Since the start of 2014 the yard has operated at a strike rate around 11% on the Flat but that increases to a notable 17.5% with Murphy aboard, and the combination’s 47 winners from 268 representatives have resulted in a level-stake profit of £44.05.
Murphy has been used selectively on the debutants, however, and Santa Savana was just the eighth such horse he has ridden for the stable since the start of 2014. Three of those finished placed, including Bettys Hope who went on to win the Super Sprint, so it seems like the yard has a decent handle on when they have one sharper than normal and Santa Savana evidently fits that bill. She is an interesting contender for the Millman and Murphy combination in the listed Empress Fillies’ Stakes (14:15) at Newmarket.
Tip of the Day
Great Max – 19:00 Doncaster
Flags: Horse In Focus, Top-Rated
Great Max hasn’t won since making a successful debut for Michael Bell at Newbury in 2021 but he’s fallen a long way in the weights in the past year and has shown signs of late that he’s capable of capitalising on his reduced mark. Great Max has been with a few yards but has offered encouragement on both starts since joining David O’Meara, a trainer who does well with his recruits. Great Max was unlucky in running when sixth at Newmarket in a race that has worked out well and he also shaped better than the result might suggest when seventh over a mile here last time as he travelled as well as anything but his position towards the far flank meant he was caught away from the heart of the action. This drop back in trip shouldn’t be an issue based on how well he travelled last time and he looks capable of snapping the losing sequence off a mark that is 20 lb lower than it was at the start of last season.
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