THE CURRAGH management are only "reasonably hopeful" of today's Jefferson Smurfit Irish St Leger meeting going ahead because of dreadful weather conditions expected to hit the racetrack this morning.
An 8 a.m. inspection will decide if the final Irish classic can go ahead. If the meeting cannot be run, the Leger will be run as the first race of an eight race card tomorrow with a start time of 1.50 p.m.
Very wet and windy weather is forecast to hit headquarters at 6 a.m. this morning with up to 20 millimetres of rain expected and gusty winds hitting 60 mph. The ground at the Curragh yesterday was yielding to soft.
"The forecast has actually improved slightly. Over an inch of rain was originaly originally forecast with winds hitting 70 mph but that has now changed," said the Curragh manager Brian Kavanagh yesterday.
"If the new forecast is right, and if 20 millimetres is the outside limit of the amount of rain we can expect, then I would be reasonably hopeful. The weather is supposed to clear at 3.00 3 p.m. in the afternoon," Kavanagh added. Whenever it is run, the Leger is now sure to be a stamina test though that may not be ideal for those hoping for a home win. Along with the 1,000 Guineas, this has been the most rewarding of the Irish classics for home based horses in the 1990s. However the trophy for the last Leger of the century looks another top prize destined to end up in Dubai.
Fresh from their double Group One success last Saturday, Godolphin are intent on scooping another top level blitz this weekend. It's hard not to saddle Kayf Tara with a tag of close to good thing in today's Leger while the World Cup winner Almutawakel goes tonight in the Woodward Stakes in New York. Then, presuming the race is run today, Frankie Dettori jets off to Woodbine in Toronto for the ride on Cape Cross in the Atto Mile.
It's a hectic schedule but one that should be initially rewarded by Kayf Tara providing Group One victory number 15 of this season for Godolphin in the Leger.
Winner of this race last year from old rival Silver Patriarch, Kayf Tara has if anything improved this season and comes here fresh from an easy success at Deauville and previous to that in the Goodwood Cup.
"I think it would be fair to say he is a better horse this year and we are hoping he can win at the Curragh before he goes into quarantine for the Melbourne Cup. That has been his main aim this year," said the Godolphin spokesman Simon Crisford.
Crucial to Godolphin's confidence is the soft surface at the Curragh which Kayf Tara is guaranteed to act on and which his main rivals in the small field, Enzeli and Silver Patriarch, are not likely to relish.
Enzeli's trainer John Oxx won the Leger twice in the '80s and this decade the home trainers have done well also with Vintage Crop and Oscar Schindler both winning twice.
Enzeli was a revelation in the Ascot Gold Cup, quickening clear in the straight to win win easily with Kayf Tara only third. He has been trained for this since but Oxx admits Enzeli is not the same horse on soft going.
The same comment can also apply to Sunshine Street who is probably having his last race in Ireland before continuing his career in the US. Yavana's Pace and Genghis Khan will act on give but don't look quite up to this class so Kayf Tara from Silver Patriarch can be the one - two for the second year running.
Heavy ground should present no problems for the returning Major Force in the Group three Aon MacDonagh Boland Stakes over seven furlongs. Twice a course winner in the Spring, including a six length demolition of Namid in the Tetrarch Stakes, Major Force looks set to justify his £5,000 supplementary fee for this ahead of the regular English visitor Ramooz. When running second to Warrior Queen in a Listed race here last time, Poco A Poco looked an assured future winner and that theory can be proved correct in the second maiden scheduled to be run today.
The fast ground was a pre-race worry for Poco A Poco's connections against Warrior Queen but to say the least no such concerns exist on that score now. The Aidan O'Brien newcomer King Street should be the main danger.
The O'Brien camp may also have to settle for second best in the opener. Alluring has looked a filly of potential in both her starts but so did Earlene at Leopardstown last weekend in a six furlong race behind Contact.
