Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Song can stay at No.1
WELD’S SEARCH IS ON FOR THREE IN A ROW AFTER 2019 & 2020 SUCCESSES
DERMOT WELD’S Search For A Song can bag a third consecutive Comer Group International Irish St Leger victory at the Curragh this afternoon.
The five-year-old was a brilliant winner of this race in 2019 and arrived late on the scene to triumph 12 months ago.
On this occasion she lines up off a light season which saw her run twice within nine days in May after which she was kept under wraps for this assignment.
Search For A Song will have to better the form she showed in the Tattersalls Gold Cup last time but her previous second in the Savel Beg Stakes was quite encouraging.
In addition she tends to come to herself at this time of year so expect Weld to have her in peak condition for this appearance.
Search For A Song could have most to fear from Twilight Payment who warmed up for this with an impressive trial win at this track last month.
The 2020 Melbourne Cup hero has been beaten on four previous outings in this race but he looked as good as ever last time and represents a danger to all.
The first of the day’s Group 1 contests is the Flying Five Stakes and a strong English raiding party look to have this race to themselves.
Preference here is for last year’s winner Glass Slippers who is another mare who comes into her own at this time of year.
After winning this race in 2020 she went on to strike gold at the Breeders Cup and her comeback third at Goodwood in late July was encouraging.
She looks as though she has been trained for this race once again and she is preferred to Winter Power.
That rival looks likely to go off favourite having struck Group 1 gold in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York last month.
Another strong English challenger is Dragon Symbol who deserves to win a race at this level but might just find six furlongs is more to his liking.
In the Goffs
Vincent O’Brien
National Stakes it is hard to look past Point
Lonsdale as he bids to extended his unbeaten sequence.
A winner of the Chesham, Tyros and Futurity Stakes on his last three outings, this son of Australia looks every inch a Group 1 winner in waiting.
He may have most to fear from Duke De Sessa who looked a top notch colt when bolting up in a maiden here a few weeks ago.
Elsewhere Cairde Go Deo looks the one to side with in the Moyglare Stakes following an impressive course and distance success last month.
That victory was achieved in an impressive time and suggested she mightn’t be far off the very best fillies around.