“The horses have been in great form all year and they have been very healthy. We have a very high percentage of horses in the first four – it is just hard to win though. We have had a lot of seconds and thirds, but that all changed last week, when we had four winners,” he stated.
“By and large the horses have found their own level and hopefully we’ll have a good end to the season. The weather hasn’t really set us back and we have horses that will appreciate the soft ground when we get it, but it wasn’t too long ago when we had very wet summers and thankfully we have horses that handle good ground and it is good that they have an opportunity to run on their preferred ground.
“We have great staff and Mick Kinane still rides work for us, as does Niall so we are well looked after from that perspective,” he added.
The promising Ebanoran has been sold to continue his career in Hong Kong.
CASTLE OF ARGH
4yo br c 1
Arch – Xinji
Francois Vincent Fabre
He is a big horse and is only just maturing now. He likes good fast ground and he likes a mile and a quarter. Everything fell into place for him last week and there should be more races in him.
HARASIYA
4yo br f 1123/04-78
Pivotal – Hazariya
The Aga Khan’s Studs
She has been unlucky as she nearly won the Debutante as a two-year-old and was only beaten a length in the Pretty Polly last year on fast ground. She sustained a fracture last December and we found out that she won’t operate on fast ground. We will give her one more run on soft ground and see how that goes. I don’t think she’ll get further than a mile and a quarter.
QEWY
4yo b c 03/165-173
Street Cry – Princess Nada
Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum
He is waiting for the rain and the soft ground. He has been well entered up over the last while but he won’t run again until he gets his conditions. He will be ready for any race that comes up for him. He will be competitive at listed and group level and when the ground gets very heavy, he moves into a bit of a different league. The Platinum Stakes at Cork is next for him and he is a lovely horse to train. We just keep him ticking over but it has been a bit frustrating with him of late. Trip-wise he is versatile and anywhere from a mile to mile and a quarter is fine for him. I had him in The Lenebane Stakes at Roscommon over a mile and half and on heavy ground he would run well over seven.
TARANA
4yo b f 1/2-2133
Cape Cross – Tarakala
The Aga Khan’s Studs
She ran very well in the Curragh Cup and that was her best run to date and she will be back for those sort of races again. She might go to Goodwood and The Leger Trial is an option as well. She is in the Irish Leger but she hasn’t quite measured up for that yet. I thought she ran very well in the Curragh Cup, but it may have exposed her as being not quite good enough for the likes of the Irish Leger, but we’ll see how she fares the next day.
THREE-YEAR-OLDS
AWESOME STAR
3yo b c 3
Sea The Stars – Always Awesome
CF Farms
He ran well at the weekend but he was very green. He is a big raw horse and was very lazy at home. He hadn’t learned a lot from his homework and didn’t know what was going on when he ran at the weekend.
He was being scrubbed along out the back but then the penny dropped in the straight and he flew home. We were very pleased with him and we think that he should improve a lot.
CAILINI ALAINN
3yo b f
Danehill Dancer – Monty’s Girl
Newtown Anner Stud
She is a nice filly that is close to a run. She will need an ease in the ground and some distance. I am anxious to get her out but she is a nice maiden.
EBASANI
3yo ch c 1-6
Manduro – Ebatana
The Aga Khan’s Studs
He is a horse that we’ve always liked. He won last October at Navan and he had been working well in the spring, but then he disappointed in the Ballysax, where he didn’t appear to handle the sticky, holding ground. He has since had a setback but he is back in full work now and I hope that he’ll redeem himself later on this year. We will look at the Oyster Stakes but we don’t have enough races for horses (like him) that have won their maiden. They don’t have those little graduation races, so he may start back in a handicap at the end of August.
ERINIYA
3yo b f 0-3
Acclamation – Erdiyna
The Aga Khan’s Studs
She has had two runs and was third in a maiden at the Curragh in June. She is a good maiden over six or seven furlongs and I’d be disappointed if she didn’t win her maiden. Hopefully she will improve with racing.
GENTRY
3yo ch c 5-4152
Nayef – Elegant Way
Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum
He is a good solid horse that won his maiden at Roscommon and he ran well when second in an apprentice-rated race at Fairyhouse over an inadequate trip. He has a chance of winning again when we step him to a mile and a half or further.
HARRY’S PRINCESS
3yo b f 1-469
Strategic Prince – Harry’s Irish Rose
Barrow Vale Syndicate
She is a nice filly that won last November and she ran very well early in the year but we have had a couple of setbacks with her since. She got very upset in the stalls when she ran at the Curragh on Derby weekend. She got very unsettled and hit her head off the gates and on the day, she didn’t perform at all. We can draw a line through that and we hope that she’ll run a lot better when she runs again.
LONGTON
3yo b c 321-4
Myboycharlie – Lauren Louise
Sheikh Mohammed Bin Faleh Al Thani
He runs at Naas on Wednesday. He is rated 75 and he ran well off that mark at Naas. Richard Fahey had him last year and he is nice horse and hopefully he’ll go a bit closer on Wednesday.
MARAKOUSH
3yo b c 2322
Danehill Dancer – Mouramara
The Aga Khan’s Studs
He is a good sort of maiden that has had three runs and he ran well on each occasion. He is a big unfurnished type of horse that should improve. He should win his maiden before too long.
MY TITANIA
3yo b f 211-43
Sea The Stars – Fairy Of The Night
Christopher Tsui
She picked up an injury at the weekend. We were looking forward to a good season with her, but sadly she was lame after she ran on Sunday.
We will just have to see if she can recover in time to race again this season or how soon she can race again. She has a knee injury. That was a pity, she looked like a winner two down at the Curragh but then didn’t pick up as expected, but that is probably the explanation for that.
PONFEIGH
3yo gr c 3-1143
Teofilo – Water Fountain
Thomas Barr
He ran well on Sunday. Parish Hall has a higher rating than him but our horse ran a good race. We might try him over a little shorter for him the next day. I have no real plan for him at the minute but he has progressed well this season. He ran well in the Irish Derby.
PRIMOGENITURE
3yo b g 965-531
Glory of Dancer – Jacqueline
V.B. Shirke, K.N. Dhunjibhoy, B.M. Desai
He has done well for us and he has improved for the step up in trip. He is rated 85 now and he will more than likely run at Galway on Monday in the three-year-old handicap. He does stay well and he has a turn of foot. He is a nice horse that has improved with racing and while it won’t be easy for him off his new mark, it will be interesting to see how he fares next week.
RAYNA
3yo ch f 33111
Selkirk – Raydiya
The Aga Khan’s Studs
She has done very well to win three races. She has gone up in the weights and she may have achieved her objective. Whether she can win another remains to be seen. She is a very tough, honest little filly and you never know with ones like that, they can surprise you. She had a big weight on her back at Killarney but she did it well. She is up to 82 now so it won’t be easy for her but she does stay well and has a great attitude.
RIGHTWAY
3yo b c
Cockney Rebel – Caeribland
Marco Valade
He has been placed in two maidens and he might do better when he races on soft ground. He bumped into a smart filly last week when second at Leopardstown. He should win his maiden.
ROYAL MEMORY
3yo b f 32
Invincible Spirit – Entre Nous
Marco Valade
She is a nice filly rated 90 and she ran well at Fairyhouse. She will run away in those races and she might run in a handicap at Galway. She is a well bred filly with a nice pedigree. She has been consistent and we would like to improve her record a bit, but she has been very consistent. She is versatile ground-wise and if we can improve her a bit more, we might try her in a stakes race in due course. She has done nothing wrong.
SEAS OF WELLS
3yo b f 1547
Dansili – Kiyra Wells
Christopher Tsui
She is a nice filly that is rated in the 90’s. She ran well in a listed race at Naas but didn’t do so well the last day at Fairyhouse - the ground was too fast for her. We would like to try her again in a stakes race on slower ground. She is due to run at Naas on Wednesday.
SHE’S MINE
3yo b f 3-55
Sea The Stars – Scribonia
V.I. Araci
She is a nice filly that cost a lot of money as a foal. We have always liked her and she is a lovely filly. She has had a few nice runs. We took her to Dundalk in April and we were a bit disappointed when she finished fifth, but it turned out to be an above average maiden so as it turned out, it was a good run. She has had a few little setbacks since, but we hope that she’ll be busy in the autumn. She is a fine big filly that will go on as a four-year-old as well and she looks up to winning her maiden.
STARS SO BRIGHT
3yo b f 17
Sea The Stars – Night Fairy
Christopher Tsui
She is a talented little filly but she hasn’t been straightforward to keep sound. She wasn’t right after her last run in the Guineas Trial after a nice maiden win at Dundalk. She might be ready for the listed race for fillies next week at Galway. She likes fast ground.
STREETCAR TO THE STARS
3yo ch c 8-21
Sea The Stars – Approach
Christopher Tsui
He is a nice young horse that we have always liked. He is in at Down Royal on Friday, but his next objective is likely to be the Ballyroan Stakes at Leopardstown. It is hard to know how high he can go. He is rated 100 on the back of two runs and he should improve a good bit. How far he goes remains to be seen, but he is a horse that has a chance and he is by Sea The Stars, so I am hoping that he might develop into a Leger candidate.
TARZIYNA
3yo ch f 42131
Raven’s Pass – Taraza
The Aga Khan’s Studs
She won very well at Killarney. She likes to be held up and those tactics brought about improvement last week, so she may have one more run in a handicap to see how she fares off her new mark. She has done well for us and hopefully there is more to come from her.
THE BIG CAT
3yo b g 41
Footstepsinthesand – Abama Lady
Dundalk Racing Club
He won what looked an ordinary looking maiden and I was surprised that he got a mark of 85. He did win well and we’ll just have to see how he gets on and run him off that rating. He wants a mile and a quarter and we might try him over further.
WRAP STAR
3yo br g 634
Cape Cross – Twinkling
J.R. Ancell
He has had three runs and has had a couple of thirds. He ran okay but I thought he’d run better so we have gelded him since his last run. We’ll see how that goes and I think he will be competitive in a maiden. He is a nice, good-looking, correct horse and if the gelding operation has worked, he could be a nice maiden. I feel that he has more ability than he has shown to date. Like most horses by Cape Cross, he wants good ground.
TWO-YEAR-OLDS
COLOUR RHAPSODY
c f 61
Rip Van Winkle – Truly Mine
Mrs H.M. Keaveney
She is a nice filly. She has had two quick runs and she has won. She won’t run again until later in the year and she is a big rangy filly with above average ability. We will aim her at a stakes race later in the year. She will be a nice filly for next year.
LOOPER
ch f 3
Lope De Vega – Helen Of Sparta
Newtown Anner Stud Farm Ltd
She ran a good race at Fairyhouse. She is not straightforward and runs in a hood. She came home well at Fairyhouse and she will go for a median auction maiden in a couple of weeks’ time.
ROMEO ROMEO
bc 5
Invincible Spirit – Precious Spring
V.I. Araci
He was a bit sleepy at Naas