John Ingles of Timeform provides an overview of the key things to note for Sunday’s racing featuring the Irish Derby.
Three points of interest
Placed pair from Epsom get a second chance at Derby glory
With Derby winner City of Troy being lined up for next weekend’s Eclipse at Sandown, the Irish Derby (16:05) offers another opportunity for the two colts who chased him home at Epsom to gain some classic success.
While the Irish Derby has often been the obvious next step for the Epsom winner, as it was for Auguste Rodin last year, it has also provided plenty of consolation over the years for horses beaten in the Derby. In all, eleven winners of the Irish Derby this century had been beaten at Epsom beforehand. They include three who had been runner-up in the Derby; Fame And Glory had come up against Sea The Stars at Epsom in 2009, Treasure Beach was narrowly denied by Pour Moi two years later and Jack Hobbs had to play second fiddle to stablemate Golden Horn. With their conquerors heading to the Eclipse instead like City of Troy this year, both Fame And Glory and Jack Hobbs were odds-on winners at the Curragh where both won by five lengths.
Four more colts, including two of the most recent Irish Derby winners, Westover and Hurricane Lane, had finished third at Epsom beforehand. This looks a good chance therefore for either Ambiente Friendly, just under three lengths behind City of Troy in the Derby, or Los Angeles, beaten a total of six lengths into third, to become Derby winners too.
The winner of the Lingfield Derby Trial from subsequent Queen’s Vase winner Illinois, Ambiente Friendly impressed most of all with the way he travelled at Epsom, though ultimately couldn’t match the winner’s turn of foot. Even so, he kept on well in the final furlong and, having been supplemented for €100,000, the James Fanshawe-trained colt has the beating of Los Angeles on that evidence, being 3 lb clear on ratings.
But Los Angeles, with a ‘p’ on his rating indicating more improvement to come, could make more of a race of it with Ambiente Friendly than he was able to do at Epsom. Bidding to become Aidan O’Brien’s sixteenth Irish Derby winner, but only Ryan Moore’s second – Auguste Rodin last year was his first – Los Angeles did well considering he helped forced the pace in the Derby and this big, well-made colt whose sire Camelot completed the Epsom/Curragh Derby double should be well suited by this more galloping track. With three stablemates in the field, including Grosvenor Square, a brother to the 2020 winner Santiago, he might not need to do so much of the donkey work this time.
Saturn’s stellar pedigree
The last race on a bumper card at the Curragh is the Ragusa Premier Handicap (17:50), run over the Irish Derby trip and taking its name from the colt who not only won the big race in 1963 (after finishing third at Epsom) but who also won the King George and St Leger that year as well as the Eclipse at four.
This race looks the best opportunity, from his four rides on the card, for US Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez to ride a winner on his busman’s holiday in Ireland where he had his first ever ride at Naas on Wednesday evening. The 52-year-old jockey who was born in Puerto Rico has ridden twenty winners at the Breeders’ Cup as well as three Kentucky Derby winners, while last year he rode the latest of his four Royal Ascot winners when American filly Crimson Advocate won the Queen Mary Stakes.
Velazquez’s mount in the Ragusa is the Joseph O’Brien-trained bottom-weight Carlo Bianconi who was a close third when claimer-ridden in a similar event at Cork last time. That makes him joint-top in the Timeform weight-adjusted ratings here but he might have to give best to Saturn who has the same adjusted rating but with the ‘p’ symbol added indicating he’s open to improvement. Now aged four, Saturn’s pedigree wouldn’t have made him look out of place in last year’s Irish Derby but he didn’t make his debut for Jessica Harrington and the Niarchos Family until contesting a maiden at this meeting twelve months ago.
Evidently a late developer, Saturn has now won three of his last four starts and is on the way to living up to his top-notch pedigree as he’s by Galileo and is the first foal out of the same connections’ high-class miling filly Alpha Centauri, winner of the Irish 1000 Guineas, Coronation Stakes, Falmouth Stakes and Prix Jacques le Marois in 2018. He looks capable of defying the handicapper again.
Top local duo Moffatt and Jones seeking more winners at Cartmel
Training close to the track, Jimmy Moffatt is the leading trainer by number of wins at Cartmel over the last five seasons, having also had more runners there than anyone else. More eye-catching, perhaps, is the record of stable jockey Charlotte Jones who has ridden the majority of those winners. Her 25 winners there in that period puts her only two behind Cartmel’s leading rider Brian Hughes but Jones can boast the better strike rate which comes in at an impressive 24%.
Needing only two more winners to ride out her claim, Jones has yet to get off the mark for the year but went close to doing so at Cartmel’s Friday fixture when Moffatt’s Sky Luna was runner-up on her debut under Rules.
The pairing have five chances on Sunday’s card with the strongest claims probably being held by Hurricane Ali in the competitive feature hurdle (15:10). Course-and-distance winner Luttrell Lad looks the one to beat after his fourth in the Swinton at Haydock last time but Hurricane Ali made an encouraging first start for Moffatt when runner-up over a longer trip here a month ago. This sharper test will suit him much better and he shouldn’t be far away.
Tip of the Day
Charlie Uberalles – 15:45 Cartmel
Flags: Horse In Focus, Top Rated
Charlie Uberalles gets in at the foot of the weights in this handicap chase and he’s lurking on a dangerous mark considering he was beaten little more than three lengths into third behind Annual Invictus in the Great Yorkshire Chase at Doncaster in January. He was a 50/1 shot on that occasion after being pulled up in the Welsh National on his previous start so is in calmer waters now and 4 lb lower in the weights than he was at Doncaster. He’s made the frame in all three of his previous visits to Cartmel, including his latest outing last month when taking a big step back in the right direction to finish runner-up to the useful Tommie Beau while pulling clear of the rest. Heading the weight-adjusted ratings by 1 lb, Charlie Uberalles can make the most of nearly a stone that he’s receiving from last year’s winner Arthur’s Quay.
