Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
RAIDERS PRIMED.. Irish line up Royal Ascot assault
ROMANISED, Rhododendron and Sergei Prokofiev will lead a 23-strong Irish challenge on the opening day of Royal Ascot tomorrow.
The Irish-trained declarations for Day 1 include Deauville and Rhododendron in the Queen Anne and Gee Rex, Indigo Balance, No Needs Never, Sergei Prokofiev and The Irish Rover in the Coventry.
Five Irish hopes have been declared for the King’s Stand – Primo Uomo, Washington DC, Battle Of Jericho, Declarationofpeace, Different League - while
Gustav Klimt, Romanised, Threeandfourpence and US
Navy Flag are down to run in the St. James’s Palace
Yucatan is the sole challenger in the Wolferton, while Whiskey Sour, Daybreak Boy, Chelkar, Lagostovegas, Stratum and Merie Devie will also be making appearances.
Meanwhile, Lethal Promise looks the banker bet on tonight’s Naas card, on the eve of Royal Ascot 2018.
Trained by Willie Mccreery, on the mark with Excelling Spirit in Cork yesterday, this Invincible Spirit has filled the runner-up berth in both starts at the Curragh and looks more than capable of getting off the mark.
Owned by the Irish National Stud Breeding & Racing Club, Lethal Promise is probably capable of making her mark in stakes company and I expect her to bag her maiden success here before stepping up in grade.
The featured Midsummer Sprint, over five furlongs and transferred due to the ongoing work on Cork’s sprint track, affords the Aidan O’brien-trained Dali a good opportunity to step successfully into listed company.
This Scat Daddy colt failed by a head to Blue Uluru in a five-furlong handicap at the Curragh last time and looks progressive.
This doesn’t look the strongest of listed contests, with English raider Mirza, Son Of rest and Brick By Brick representing the older sprinters.
FIFTH to stablemate Forever Together in the Investec Oaks in Epsom last time, Flattering landed the Group 3 Munster oaks in Cork yesterday.
Under a canny ride by Seamus Heffernan (inset), the Galileo filly made all and kept at bay Bloomfield, conceding a stone to the winner, by a length, with the winner’s stablemate Sizzling a close third.
“The plan was to go forward and she was comfortable in front,” explained Heffernan, who was providing Aidan O’brien with the middle leg of a treble, initiated by odds-on favourite Mohawk in the opening two-year-old maiden and completed by Victory Salute in the mile-and-a-quarter maiden.