Bookmakers are at odds with each other over Sunday's Budweiser Irish Derby, with opinions varying as to whether Oath, Montjeu or even Beat All should be favourite.
Beat All, supplemented along with Mutafaweq for £77,500 into the field of 11 yesterday, is the surprise 7 to 4 favourite for the Curragh classic with Ladbrokes who, significantly, quote the French Derby winner Montjeu "with a run".
Beat All ran third to Oath in the Epsom Derby off an interrupted preparation, and the Ladbrokes spokesman Mike Dillon said yesterday: "I came off the stands at Epsom thinking Beat All was the best horse in the race and would reverse the form on a flat track."
Worryingly for the Curragh executive, however, the Ladbrokes quote of 5 to 2 Montjeu "with a run" betrays doubts over whether the horse will travel to the Curragh at all.
Montjeu's trainer, John Hammond, has said he will not race the colt on fast ground, but Curragh manager Brian Kavanagh yesterday described the going as good.
"The clerk of the course, Joe Collins, has walked the track and said it is good all around and in places easy. Details about the ground and the weather forecast have been faxed to John Hammond. It's going to be dry until Saturday when there is a risk of thundery showers. We will look at watering later on, but if we do water, it won't take a lot," said Kavanagh.
That didn't stop Paddy Powers making Montjeu their 9 to 4 favourite for the Curragh clash, but the Cork firm Cashmans have Montjeu as only their 4 to 1 third favourite behind the Epsom winner Oath, who is on 5 to 2, and Beat All, who they make 3 to 1.
Daliapour, who split Oath and Beat All at Epsom, is also set to renew rivalry so long as the ground does not become too firm.
A stable spokeswoman for Luca Cumani reported: "He is in good form and as things stand, he is an intended runner."
Eleven horses remain in the field with Aidan O'Brien set to be represented by four runners.
Yesterday Mutafaweq, the impressive winner of the King Edward VII Stakes only on Friday last, received an upbeat bulletin from Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin team.
"What we saw at Ascot was a high class performance and we believe there is more to come," said the Godolphin spokesman Simon Crisford.
"The only real negative is the relative proximity of the two races to each other, but Mutafaweq is a fresh colt and a strong colt. We believe he will be able to cope with the pressures both mentally and physically," Crisford added.
Winners of the King Edward have a decent record in the Irish Derby. Shareef Dancer won both in 1983, beating the Derby winners Teenoso and Caerleon, and English Prince completed the double in 1974.
"On a line through Iscan, who was second at Ascot and also in the Italian Derby, we feel that Mutafaweq's form is well up to scratch, and although he hasn't run in a Group One before we think he is still open to improvement," Crisford added.
Aidan O'Brien had no update on his jockey plans for the Irish Derby yesterday, but he described Sunspangled, beaten in three classics this season, as a possible runner in Saturday's big race, the Independent Pretty Polly Stakes.
