IT is summer blockbuster time in the cinemas and last Thursday at Leopardstown saw another repeat of the movie that has been playing throughout this flat season: Ryan Moore going from the front on a Ballydoyle runner and never getting caught. The first three winners on the card were successfully ridden that way and this has been a feature of many of big flat cards this season at the Curragh.

It is almost as if Moore and O’Brien have figured out that many Irish races are slowly run and the place to be is on the pace on the best horse.

That is of course a simplification but it is interesting that of Moore’s 40 winners in Ireland this season, a tally that led the championship at the end of that Leopardstown fixture, 21 of them were on or very close to the pace.

It is very hard to find a genuine hold-up ride among the rest, bar perhaps a couple of juveniles that lacked sharpness at the stalls but even they were often soon put into prominent positions.

Leopardstown was also a good illustration of the tactical bind faced by the other riders: do you sit back and hope to pick up the pieces or press on and test the Ballydoyle runners, at the risk of spending your own mount too early? Neither is a particularly appealing option.

First approach

Billy Lee took the first approach on Vespertilio in the Silver Flash, opting to sit last behind Ylang Ylang, a perhaps understandable move on one just out of a maiden in search of blacktype.

She was successful in getting that status when finishing second, but Lee might have felt he left a bit on the table here, the filly finishing strongly as she covered the final three furlongs of the race in 36.24 seconds, the fastest split on the card, with the winner 0.29 seconds slower and second fastest on the card.

Ben Coen on Chicago Fireball, who shaped like a stayer on previous starts, opted to press Moore on Henry Adams from halfway in the Tyros Stakes but his mount was soon spent in the straight and he finished a seven-length third, likely having a hard race in the process. It really is a Sophie’s Choice.

The presence of four seven-furlong races to open the card at Leopardstown allowed for meaningful time comparisons and while the Silver Flash came out well on closing sectionals, in terms of overall times, Zarinsk was the standout performer. She deserves a lot of credit for her win in the rescheduled Gladness Stakes as she was part of a very hot early pace. Her overall time was 1.47 seconds quicker than the next best seven-furlong race on the card, the Silver Flash, but all of that and more came in the first part of the race as they made to the three-furlong pole 3.52 seconds faster than the juvenile fillies.

Settled

Zarinsk, as is her wont, broke sharply from the stalls and was soon pressured in the lead by Snapraeterea and Lord Massusus but unlike that pair she was relatively settled. Going well into the straight and with the other front-runners beaten off, she found plenty to hold off the closers and looks a particularly resolute filly.

Leopardstown clearly suits her well – her form figures there are 41311 – so all roads lead to the Matron and she would have to have a chance. Tahiyra looms large in that division and is being aimed at the Matron but outside of her it looks reasonably open.