Cimeara to Stan & deliver
THE Jim Bolger-trained Cimeara should be tough to beat in the Group 3 Irish Stallion Farms EBF
Stanerra (Fillies) Stakes in Leopardstown tonight.
A Vocalised filly, she’s a dual-winner on heavy ground, but has performed creditably on a faster surface in her last two starts and, tackling a mile and six furlongs for the first time, has solid claims – although Kevin Manning will struggle to do 8-9 on the Coolcullen filly.
Having toughed it out well to win a Leopardstown handicap in April, off a mark of 78, Cimeara was then tried in Group 3 company in the Airlie Stud Gallinule Stakes and, although unable to deliver a challenge, she finished fifth behind Platinum Warrior and subsequent Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby victor Latrobe, with one of her chief rivals tonight, Sizzling, in ninth.
Cimeara stepped-up to a mile and a half at Leopardstown last time and did well to chase home Giuseppe Garibaldi (runs in the Bahrain trophy in Newmarket today) in the listed King George V Cup, with subsequent Curragh winner and my fancy for tonight’s Nasrullah Handicap, Lucius Tiberius, third.
Although unproven over tonight’s trip, there’s every reason to expect Cimeara to relish the test. And she gets the vote to beat Sizzling and Detailed.
Denied a clear run and a real eye-catcher on her recent Curragh debut, behind stable-companion Peach Tree, Aidan O’brien’s Goddess sets the standard in the opening two-year-old fillies maiden. And it will take a smart newcomer to beat her.