Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
FLY THE FLAG
Stayer can Honour O’brien’s run of St Leger victories
PROGRESSIVE three-year-old Flag Of Honour will be strongly-fancied to continue Aidan O’brien’s dominance of the Comer Group International Irish St Leger Trial at the Curragh today.
O’brien has won the race for the last four years, including a hat-trick by Order Of St George. And Flag Of Honour, which looked a potentially high-class stayer when winning the Curragh Cup over this course and distance on Derby weekend, looks set to continue the trend. Conqueror of stable-companison
GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI, another one of the four Ballydoyle runners in today’s race, in the Eyrefield Stakes at Leopardstown on his final juvenile start, Flag Of Honour struggled in his early outings as a three-year-old, finishing only fifth in the Chester Vase and 10th, behind Study Of Man, in the Prix du Jockey-club.
But he always looked likely to step-up when tackling staying trips. And he delivered last time when, forcibly ridden by Ryan Moore, he ground it out well to beat Giuseppe
Garibaldi and another of today’s runners TWILIGHT PAYMENT.
With further improvement likely, Flag Of Honour should be tough to beat here, with Donnacha
O’brien in the saddle for the first time.
He looks superior to his stable-companions, although SOUTHERN
FRANCE, runner-up to another Ballydoyle colt Kew Gardens in the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot, is interesting.
The selection holds Jim Bolger’s Twilight Payment, winner of Her Majesty’s Plate in Down Royal last time, on Curragh Cup form in a race which sees Willie Mullins saddle three, against the Ballydoyle quartet and the Bolger runner.
THOMAS HOBSON,
sixth to Pallasator in the Queen Alexandra at Royal Ascot and the mount of Colin Keane, is probably regarded the best of the Closutton trio, although
LAWS OF SPIN is expected to improve frowm his second to Twilight Payment in Down Royal.
Beaten less than four lengths when fourth to Advertise in the recent Keeneland Phoenix Stakes (Group 1), Jessica Harrington’s, left, INDIGO
BALANCE should be tough to beat, dropping into listed company, in the five-furlong Curragh Stakes.