Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
CHRISTMAS GIFT
Colt can present O’brien with Caravaggio hat-trick
CHRISTMAS might give Aidan O’brien a third successive win in the listed Coolmore Caravaggio Stakes in Tipperary tonight. O’brien saddled subsequent Irish Derby winner Capri to win this event two years ago and, while Christmas mightn’t reach those heights, he looks progressive and might be good enough to see off his six rivals. Unplaced on his debut at Leopardstown, the Galileo colt stepped-up significantly on his second start when getting within a neck of Hillwalker in Gowran Park. And he came good in Roscommon last time when, ridden by Donnacha, he made all for a convincing defeat of Mofakker (ran in the Leopardstown opener last night), with Pulse Of Shanghai (ran a cracker at the Curragh on Monday) in fourth.
More will be needed from Christmas tonight. But improvement is expected over this slightly longer trip. And he’s expected to prove too strong for Henry de Bromhead’s, inset, debut scorer Chicago May and Fozzy Stack’s Highland Fortune, a winner at Leopardstown before finishing fourth to Van Beethoven in the Group 2 Railway Stakes at the Curragh.
Earlier, the Joseph O’brien-trained Tenax, which stepped-up on his debut effort when finishing a close third behind Fulminate and Coral Beach at Fairyhouse, might open his account in the latest race in the Foran 2-Y-0 Series.
And Joseph’s Julienne, pipped in a Curragh maiden on Monday, should gain compensation in the www.tipperaryraces.ie Fillies Maiden.
This daughter of Galileo showed little in two juvenile starts at Leopardstown in September and October. But her Curragh effort, when beaten a nose by Tough Spirit, suggested success at this level should be within her capabilities.
In the handicap action, Ross O’sullivan’s consistent Universal
Focus, runner-up to Faradays
Law at Dundalk last time, has solid claims under Jody
Townend in the concluding lady riders’ event while Rapid Reaction, a good second to the progressive Focus Of
Attention at Naas, looks nicely-weighted in the five-furlong
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Elsewhere, four Irish trainers will be represented in the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes at Belmont Park tomorrow.
Aidan O’brien, who will also saddle Deauville (Arlington Million) and Athena (Beverly D) at the meeting, will pin his Secretariat hopes on Hunting Horn (Ryan Moore) and Lucius Tiberius (Wayne Lordan).
Joseph O’brien will run Ming, the mount of Billy Lee, while Michael Halford has booked Joel Rosario for Platinum Warrior, last seen when finishing ninth behind Latrobe in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby.
And Dermot Weld has snapped up the services on William Buick to ride Bandua, a beaten favourite in a listed event at Leopardstown last time, having finished eighth in the Curragh classic.