THERE’S A ‘VILLE & A WAY
Murtagh filly fancied to shine
THE lightly-raced Annerville should be tough to beat in the listed Vintage Tipple Stakes in Gowran Park.
The Newtown Annerowned Iffraaj filly has raced only four times, landing a Leopardstown maiden on her second start, almost a year ago.
Never a man to shirk a challenge, Johnny Murtagh then saddled Annerville for the Ribblesdale at Royal Ascot. But a tardy start didn’t help her cause. She failed to produce her best and came back injured.
But we saw the real Annerville when she made her seasonal debut in the Noblesse in Cork last month, chasing home the classy Thunder Kiss.
Although beaten four and a half lengths, Murtagh’s charge finished ahead of Pita Pinta, dual listed-winner Barrington Court, Tashi and Federica Sophia on that occasion and is expected to confirm the form here.
The field also includes last year’s impressive winner Mighty Blue, fit from hurdling, and runnerup Lismore, plus the Ger Lyons-trained Yaxeni, winner of the Naas November Handicap at the expense of another rival here Powerful Aggie. But Yaxeni was well-beaten in her comeback run, over in Nottingham.
Rumbles Of Thunder, fourth in the Noblesse, drops in trip with obvious prospects in the other listed event on the card, the Victor Mccalmont Stakes.
Colin Keane’s (inset) mount must concede weight to her seven rivals, having won listed prizes in France and Italy when trained in France.
But it’s significant that Billy Lee, who rides most of Paddy Twomey’s runners, has opted to partner Sultanic Swing, impressive winner of a course and distance maiden here last month and open to plenty of improvement.
The Ger Lyons-trained Georgeta is napped to get off the mark in the opener over seven furlongs.
Fifth to West Coast on her debut at Leopardstown last October, she produced a solid effort on her three-year-old debut in Naas, finishing a creditable fourth behind Sunday’s Qipco 1,000 Guineas third Tuesday, beaten just two and a half lengths.
Today’s race doesn’t look particularly strong so a reproduction of that Naas effort might suffice.
Wearing a firsttime tongue-tie on her three-year-old debut, Joseph O’brien’s Clemmie C looks the one to beat in the competitive Irish Stallion Farms Fillies Maiden over an extended nine furlongs.
The Carriganog filly showed promise in each of her three juvenile starts, ending with a good fourth in the hot Leopardstown maiden won by Villanova Queen last October, a race boosted by the third Above The Curve, winner of a Leopardstown maiden and favourite for today’s Cheshire Oaks in Chester.