IN recent weeks the domestic two-year-old division has played host to some interesting activity, with Lady Kaya’s utterly dominant effort at the Curragh two weeks ago a standout.

Lady Kaya’s imperious 10-length victory was easily one of the best efforts by a two-year-old filly in Ireland this year, alongside the performance produced by Goddess in a Leopardstown maiden last month, and she will get a chance to prove her worth at a higher level in tomorrow’s Group 2 Debutante Stakes.

On the colts’ front things have been a little quieter but Leopardstown last week may have witnessed the emergence of a major talent in Madhmoon.

There are a number of two-year-old maidens throughout the season that carry an impressive history and often attract fields befitting their status.

The seven-furlong colts’ and fillies’ maidens on Derby weekend are two that spring to mind as are the two maidens at the Guineas Festival.

However, a race that slips below the radar despite boasting a compelling role of honour is that Leopardstown maiden won by Madhmoon.

In 2011 the race was won by the subsequent Derby third Astrology and the 2012 scorer Galileo Rock went on to fill the same place in the greatest classic of all.

Then, in 2013, the race was won by Free Eagle, and 12 months later Order Of St George emerged victorious. Such a list of previous winners makes for impressive reading, and on the evidence of last Thursday, Kevin Prendergast’s son of Dawn Approach could well add further lustre to that roll of honour.

At Leopardstown, Madhmoon was a solid 9/2 shot in the face of overwhelming support for the Ballydoyle first string, Sydney Opera House.

The latter, who caught the eye on his debut, was backed from 8/13 into 4/9 and such support from those quarters is generally very telling.

As it happened, Sydney Opera House did everything right through the race and finished nicely clear of the remainder but he was no match for Madhmoon in the closing stages.

MOST IMPRESSIVE

The Prendergast inmate travelled notably well at all stages and quickened up in some style over the last furlong to defeat Sydney Opera House by two and three quarter lengths.

Admittedly the eight-runner field contained just two horses with previous experience so some perspective is required here, but it is not overstating things to say that this was one of the most impressive performances seen from a two-year-old colt in Ireland this season.

Presumably an outing on Irish Champions Weekend will be next and this colt could go a long way towards advancing his classic claims in either the Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes or the KPMG Champions Juvenile Stakes.

It is early days for Madhmoon but the next 12 months could see him go down as one of his trainer’s best colts. His initial performance bodes very well for his prospects and there is even more encouragement to be gleaned from his pedigree as he is related to classic winners Awtaad, Lomond and the iconic American champion Seattle Slew.

Whether he will prove to be a Guineas or Derby type time will tell but, at this stage, odds of 33/1 about either of those classics looks quite tempting as well as underestimating his potential.

English raiders set to plunder?

THIS summer has been a reasonably productive one for English-trained horses on the flat in Ireland with the victory of Archie Watson’s Snowy Winter in last week’s Listed Hurry Harriet Stakes following hot on the heels of that of Advertise in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes.

Furthermore, English raiders enjoyed a big race four-timer at the Curragh on Irish Oaks day, and Derby weekend saw the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes go for export when Urban Fox readily dealt with the challenge of Forever Together.

Interestingly though, horses from across the Irish Sea have been no more prolific than they were 12 months ago.

Ahead of this weekend English horses have notched up seven pattern race victories in Ireland so far this season as against eight during the same period in 2017.

A further look at these figures reveals one notable trend, which is the country’s two-year-old races have been kinder to the raiders than is normally the case.

The victory of Advertise in the Phoenix Stakes was the first time that an English-trained runner has won that race since 1997, and the success of Marie’s Diamond in the Anglesey Stakes represented the first overseas triumph in that race for 18 years.

As Irish Champions Weekend looms large on the horizon, another strong English should be forthcoming.

The Champion Stakes hasn’t been kept at home since 2011, the upgraded Group 1 Flying Five Stakes will more than likely go for export, and English-trained runners should once again present the home team with formidable challenges in the likes of the Bold Lad and Sovereign Path Handicaps.

This year though the challenge from across the Irish Sea for the likes of the National Stakes and the Moyglare could be of a more formidable nature than has been the case for a number of years.

Garden is more rosy

ALTHOUGH he left the opening day of York’s Ebor meeting empty-handed Aidan O’Brien will surely have been heartened by the effort of Kew Gardens in the Great Voltigeur Stakes.

The Grand Prix de Paris hero was beaten just under two lengths into third by Old Persian but still ran a race of considerable merit under his Group 1 penalty to underline his claims for the St Leger at Doncaster.

The Ballydoyle trainer has had to endure his share of tribulations this summer with his string being under the weather but in this colt he looks to be on the cusp of notching up his third English classic triumph of the season.

Following his latest effort Kew Gardens was still as big as 3/1 for the St Leger – a more than fair offering.