THE Group Two Juddmonte Beresford Stakes spearheads another fabulous day’s racing at the Curragh next Sunday, 28th September and is backed up by the Group Three C.L. and M.F. Weld Park Fillies Stakes, the Listed Anglesey Lodge Equine Hospital Blenheim Stakes and the Listed The Irish Field Loughbrown Stakes.
Champion trainer Aidan O’Brien has dominated the Juddmonte Beresford Stakes over the past 17 years (he first won it with Johan Cruyff in 1996 and recorded his thirteenth success when Geoffrey Chaucer landed the spoils 12 months ago) and the master of Ballydoyle once again holds a strong hand in this year’s renewal with five of the 17 horses remaining in the race. Top of the list is undoubtedly Ol’ Man River who gave an impressive display when making a winning racecourse debut over this course and trip late last month. O’Brien can also rely on Battle Of Marathon, Order Of St George, Smuggler’s Cove and newcomer Jacobean.
“All my horses for the weekend seem to be in good form,” commented Aidan O’Brien today. “The ground would be crucial for Ol’ Man River as he needs it to stay good. We will wait and see what the weather does over the next few days and make a final decision on Friday morning.” Other notable entries here are Tombelaine, Parish Boy and the Kevin Ryan-trained Salateen.
A total of 16 horses have been entered for the Group Three C.L. and M.F Weld Park Fillies Stakes including the highly promising Found. One of five Aidan O’Brien-trained fillies in the race, Found made a very pleasing start to her career when landing a maiden (beat stable companion and subsequent winner Together Forever) at this venue last month and the daughter of Galileo put up an even better performance when finishing a close up third behind Cursory Glance in the Group One Moyglare Stud Stakes here just over a week ago. The Jim Bolger-trained Lucida finished half a length in front of Found on that occasion and she too will be a big player on Sunday. Other notable entries here are Lola Beaux, Tamadhor and the Kevin Ryan-trained Calypso Beat.
Tamadhor also holds an engagement in the Listed Anglesey Lodge Equine Hospital Blenheim Stakes for which there are 12 entries, while Forgotten Rules is the stand out horse among the 13 entries for the Listed The Irish Field Loughbrown Stakes.
Sunday’s race day will celebrate the achievements of members of the Irish Pony Club in 2014 with presentations taking place during the day and a performance by the Irish Pony Club Musical Ride team. The first of eight races commences at 1.55pm and the ground is currently good to firm.
Adult Admission: 15 euros. Under 25’s and Seniors 8 euro. Under 16’s and all Irish Pony Club members FREE. There is free car parking and Irish Rail run a service to Kildare Town with a free shuttle bus to the Curragh Racecourse. Dublin Bus also provides a race day service (see www.dublincoach.ie).