Gosden: Coronet can seize Curragh crown
TRAINER John Gosden will not be surprised if Coronet pushes Enable all the way in the Darley Irish Oaks this afternoon.
Frankie Dettori-ridden Enable is long odds-on favourite to win her second Classic but Gosden said the faster ground at the Curragh would be more in favour of his Olivier Peslier-ridden Ribblesdale Stakes winner.
Coronet finished 16 lengths behind Enable in the Epsom Oaks but Gosden, who won the 2012 Irish Oaks with Great Heaven, said: ‘Enable is a filly happiest on good ground and it will be somewhat faster.
‘She is a very good filly but Coronet enjoyed the faster ground at Ascot and will probably enjoy it at the Curragh. It will be a nice race between them. I would not totally be surprised if Coronet beat Enable. They are both fast-improving fillies.’
British trainers have a good recent record in the Irish Oaks, winning four of the last eight runnings.
Aidan O’Brien has won all the Irish Classics so far this season with Churchill (2,000 Guineas), Winter (1,000 Guineas) and Capri (Derby).
He runs Alluringly, well beaten by Enable and Coronet this season, plus Pretty Polly Stakes runner-up Rain Goddess.
But O’Brien’s main chance of a top-level win this afternoon is with Ryan Moore-ridden Caravaggio in the July Cup at Newmarket, where Roly Poly gave him an 11th Group One win of the season yesterday with victory in the Falmouth Stakes.
The 6-4 favourite had not won in seven races, since landing the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes on the equivalent card 12 months earlier. And the 2017 Falmouth Stakes will not get a mention on any list of the season’s strongest Group One races.
But having been second three times at the top level, Roly Poly’s record was significantly enhanced by an allthe-way, length-and-a- quarter win from Wuheida, which was achieved with a little in hand.
Group One prizes, with September’s Moyglare Stud Stakes first up, are on the agenda for O’Brien’s Clemmie, sister of Guineas winner Churchill, after she won yesterday’s Duchess of Cambridge Stakes, dealing decisively with a decent rival in Nyaleti.