Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial Day: What will Emerge for the Classics?

Aidan O’Brien is responsible for half of the eight runners declared for the Derrinstown Derby Trial in a race he has won ten times already. The Ballysax Stakes over the same course and distance is often key to this race and this could lie between the Ballydoyle pair Idaho and Beacon Rock who chased home the Dermot Weld-trained Harzand on heavy ground in the Ballysax last month. A brother to the stable’s high-class colt Highland Reel, Idaho showed plenty of promise last year and seems sure to go forward again from his reappearance.

Last month’s Craven Stakes third Shogun has had his limitations exposed at a mile, though as a brother to last year’s Oaks winner Qualify, he ought to be well suited by this first attempt at further. This looks a stiff task for the other Ballydoyle entry Lieutenant General.

Moonlight Magic looked promising at two when winning both his starts, including a listed event at this course, and while Jim Bolger’s colt was beaten a long way in fifth in the Ballysax, he’s worth another chance on what will be much less testing ground on Sunday. Stable-companion Saafarr has presumably been engaged with a pacemaking role in mind.

Instead of the Ballysax winner, Weld relies on another Aga Khan colt, Tirmizi, who made a winning debut in a maiden here in October. By Sea The Stars, he’s another Derby entry and open to improvement, though has something to find up in class. Richard Hannon sends over last month’s Newmarket listed winner Ventura Storm but this can go to Idaho.

The other classic trial on the card is the Derrinstown Stud 1000 Guineas Trial. The standard is set here by Now Or Never who was an easy winner of a maiden at Galway last summer and has kept good company since. She finished second in the other 1000 Guineas Trial here (over a furlong shorter) last month when a place in front of Alice Springs who went on to finish third in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket last weekend. However, like the winner Jet Setting, Now Or Never slipped the field last time, leaving fourth-placed Radiantly among those with an impossible task of bridging the gap. Radiantly, who made good progress at two, could make more of a race of it this time.

Kind of Magic’s grandam Queen Cleopatra won this race for Aidan O’Brien, and though she won a listed race at the Curragh last term, Kind of Magic looks one of the lesser lights at  Ballydoyle. It will be interesting to see how Misty Millie fares in this company after showing plenty of improvement to win a maiden at Navan last month by fourteen lengths, though there’s a chance the heavy ground (which she won’t have on Sunday) exaggerated her superiority.

The most interesting fillies in this line-up could turn out to be the pair who’ve got the most to find on form. Emergent was third in a listed race over a mile and a quarter on the same card at Navan (Kind of Magic was last in the same race) and there’s every chance the drop back to a mile on better ground will suit this well-bred daughter of Oasis Dream who’d looked a potentially smart filly when winning on her debut at the same track in the autumn – Dermot Weld puts blinkers on her for the first time here. Siamsaiocht makes her reappearance for Jim Bolger and should find this easier than her final start last season when bumping into future Breeders’ Cup winner Hit It A Bomb in a listed race at Dundalk.

The Amethyst Stakes, also over a mile, is the other Group 3 contest on the card. The class act here is the David O’Meara-trained Custom Cut who gained his second course-and-distance win in the Group 2 Boomerang Stakes here in September and can be expected to progress again from his fourth in last month’s Earl of Sefton Stakes at Newmarket. Although lumbered with the big burden of 10-0 and giving weight away all round, he still looks the one to beat.

Aidan O’Brien’s Cougar Mountain would be more than capable of giving Custom Cut a race on his best form, which included a close third in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot last year. He’ll need to improve on recent efforts, though the return to a mile on better ground should suit, and he probably needed his reappearance run in the Gladness Stakes last month. Gladness fourth Sruthan, impressive winner of the Irish Lincolnshire beforehand, was beaten a nose in this race last year, but this looks a better renewal and he may ideally need softer ground.

Brendan Brackan is another who’s been runner-up in this before, though he’s not quite as good as he once was despite winning a listed race under an enterprising ride on his final start last year at Cork. He was second in a similar event at Navan last month. The remainder look up against it, though the lightly-raced John Oxx pair Alphonsus and In The Pocket are worth a mention. Three-year-old Alphonsus takes on his elders for the first time and this Irish 2000 Guineas entry can progress again after his second in a listed race at Dundalk last month. This is a jump in class for four-year-old In The Pocket, but his two wins last year were gained in good style and the return to a mile will suit this well-bred colt.

Recommendations:

Back Emergent in the Derrinstown Stud 1000 Guineas Trial at Leopardstown on Sunday