Equinties - clash at the Curragh

Gm Equinauts

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Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUNDUP

CLASH AT THE CURRAGH

We have a two-year-old clash to look forward to on the weekend as the unbeaten BABOUCHE and Coolmore hot shot WHISTLEJACKET will take each other on in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes.

Juddmonte vs Coolmore at the Curragh. Very nice (in Borat voice)!

BABOUCHE is a bit of an unknown quality-wise as she did enough to justify favouritism lto when beating CAMILLE PISSARO in the Group 3 Anglesey Stakes.

She travelled like the best horse and stuck on well at the line, so you would have to be impressed by her. She also has the pedigree to back it up as she is a KODIAC half to the Group 2 winner ZARINSK.

As for WHISTLEJACKET, we know a bit more about him.

He obviously has that Royal Ascot form under his belt (as well as his relation to LITTLE BIG BEAR) and he did well to win the July Stakes lto, but one would maybe worry about the form of that July Stakes, so could he be open to being beat against a filly in receipt of weight?

On running BABOUCHE, Barry Mahon, racing manager to Juddmonte, said: "Babouche is in good form and came out of the Curragh well. I was talking to Ger on Tuesday and he's very happy with her. It's all systems go for Saturday.

"She has a phenomenal temperament and just takes everything in her stride. They went hard at the Curragh and she was near the pace so she had to be tough at the finish and she was.”

ROSALLION IS OUT… OR IS HE?

We said yesterday that ROSALLON was out for the season, but we didn’t delve into too much detail. So here it is in full.

Yesterday, The Sun broke a story which opened with the line “GUTTED Richard Hannon says superstar Rosallion is OUT for the season”.

The article went on to say that the Prix Du Moulin would come too soon after his respiratory issue and that the targets later in the season could be soft ground.

So yes, it’s unlikely that he may not be seen this year, of that there is no question, but that doesn’t mean he’s ruled out.

This is something that was clarified in a piece with the Racing Post.

"I spoke to Sheikh Obaid yesterday and he rang me to say he and Richard have decided it's highly unlikely that he will run again this season," said the owner's bloodstock adviser Liam O'Rourke.

"The ground would be soft if you look for mile targets for him beyond the Moulin and he was never keen to run him on the ground he endured at Doncaster in the Champagne.

"Nothing is firmly ruled in or out but I don't think the Breeders' Cup is likely. He wasn't keen to ship him that far and he sounded like he was likely to rule him out of the season and come back as a four-year-old."

It seems like a big assumption for Hannon and Sheikh Mohammed Obaid to be making that the ground in the autumn is guaranteed to be on the softer side.

We could get a nice dry spell? Who knows. Is this apparent negativity a small worthy against him? We would say so.

Keep eyes on this going forward.

THE RACING LEAGUE

Well, there isn’t much news to talk about, so we’ll give a bit of a preview on the Racing League, how things currently stand and some fancies for a few fun bets, if that’s your thing.

Well, out of nowhere, Team East have come to play. Headed by Chris Hughes, though Charlie Fellowes pretty much runs the team, they are over 100 points clear of previous winners Wales & The West and Team Ireland.

Can they keep the momentum? Well, they seem to have them lined up tonight with EMINENCY getting a squeeze in the 18.30, WALTER HARTRIGHT on a 5-timer in the 19.30 and GORAK seemingly well handicapped in the 20.30.

If you want to watch a really well-handicapped horse look out for TANMAWWY in that same 20.30. If Heather Main has him anywhere near his best he could carry this lot!

Team Ireland are slowly picking their way through the field and they have a powerful line up tonight owed to one George O’Boughey.

O’Boughey runs two strong fancies in previous newsletter winners in ETOILE D’ALEXANDRE and KING LEAR. That’s a nice ew double there!

One interesting point to note is that Team Wales & The West, lead by Jamie Osborne, have been fairly slow-starting this year. Have they given up or will they fight with vengeance this week? Saffie Osborne has four rides tonight, and if history is to repeat itself - well, let’s put it this way, we renamed the Racing League Saffie’s League last year.

RISK ON

We should have had another winner on the board yesterday, we still don’t know how he didn’t win!

Today we like just one horse:

18.15 HUCKLESBROOK

There’s a big gamble in this race in HOLD A DREAM for Cox but happy to take on as she’s a first time out filly against a horse we know very well in Teals. Teal’s is quick and flying at home. Started out life in the same pre-training yard as the Ferrari PUROSANGUE did. If Tom Marquand can get a good tune out of him today then any newcomer will find it hard to beat this lad today. 11/2 a good bet.

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