Ireland's winter jumps campaign continues to gather momentum but Dermot Weld's is looking ahead to one of this country's top-rated flat stars, Free Eagle, finishing his racing career in Hong Kong next month.
The Prince Of Wales’s Stakes winner will retire to the Irish National Stud after racing but Weld is keen to give Free Eagle one more attempt to improve his Group One CV and appears to favour Hong Kong’s International Carnival in December over a raid on the Japan Cup.
“A final decision hasn’t been made but it’s looking most likely he’ll go to Hong Kong, providing I’m happy with him. It’s December 13th, the end of a long year, so we’ll have to see how he is,” said Weld.
Free Eagle has run just seven times during an injury-hit career, the last of which was when out of the money behind Golden Horn in the Arc. A decision on whether he runs in the HK$25 million Longines Hong Kong Cup over ten furlongs or the HK$16.1 million Vase over a mile and a half has yet to be made.
Winds up
Britain’s 2015 turf season on the flat winds up at Doncaster today and Charles O’Brien sends Iveagh Garden for the Listed Wentworth Stakes. The JP McManus-owned filly has to concede weight all round but gets her favoured soft ground and boasts the single outstanding piece of form.
Six months ago Iveagh Gardens secured a 25-1 success on heavy ground in the Athasi Stakes at the Curragh, beating the subsequent Breeders Cup heroine Found by two lengths.
Navan's Tote Fortria Chase card highlights a triple-weekend fixture list which is likely to see the burgeoning rivalry between top t trainer Willie Mullins and his nearest rival Gordon Elliott continue to intensify.
With ground conditions getting softer, signs that the hugely-powerful Mullins team are starting to crank into top gear are increasing, with Grade One winners Petite Parisienne and Twinlight returning to action, and perhaps most notably of all Arctic Fire starting in the Grade Two Lismullen Hurdle.
That the horse who chased home his stable companions Faugheen and Hurricane Fly in some of the top events last season can boast a 169 rating yet get weight from the Elliott trained Taglietelle indicates Arctic Fire doesn't win often. But he should secure a much deserved success now.
Mullins runs just four this weekend in Ireland, a total dwarfed by Elliott who has 15 declarations over the three fixtures and is certain to pass the €1 million prizemoney mark for the season.
Both trainers are already eyeballing each other with 62 winners each for the season, tallies that include significant contributions from Michael O’Leary’s Gigginstown Stud and it is those colours which could be the fore at Naas today.
Petite Parisienne looks a worthy favourite for the Grade Three Fishery Lane Hurdle while Disko is likely to be at prohibitive odds now he's stepped up half a mile from his jumping debut.
Powder Hound should be a major player in the opener too and there will be much interest around the chasing debut of Lord Windermere's half-brother Sub-Lieutenant in the Beginners Chase. A Grade Two winner over flights last season, he brings a touch of quality that's likely to make him hard to beat.
Bright New Dawn will be the Gigginstown hope in Sunday’s Fortria which sees the former winners Twinlight and Flemenstar take on some high-class rivals including Special Tiara who impressively defeated Sprinter Sacre in last season’s Celebration Chase at Sandown.
He is unlikely to want ground conditions to get very soft and there is some rain forecast for the weekend. These Grade Two pots over two miles have proven lucrative for Hidden Cyclone in the past and he could strike again.
Just six also line up for the Grade Three For Auction Novice Hurdle which looks a good option for the Elliott-trained Tycoon Prince, an impressive winner at Punchestown. Softer conditions should'nt bother him.
JP McManus has four in Navan's Beginners Chase but the focus will be resolutely on Kitten Rock, less than ten lengths off Faugheen in the Champion Hurdle last March, and a horse which Edward O'Grady holds high hopes for.
“I’m terribly excited by him. It (Navan) is the perfect place for a horse to start over fences,” the trainer reported of a horse already as low as 16-1 for Cheltenham’s Arkle.
