2023 Curragh Saturday Preview and Tips – DS
2023 Curragh Saturday Preview and Tips
It is a busy day for horse racing afficionados today. We have already posted our preview and tips for Newbury, Ripon and Newmarket. Check that out here. In this preview we are going to focus on the Irish action where the G2 Futurity Stakes and Debutante Stakes are the features. There’s also a couple of interesting handicaps to get stuck into, Dave Stevos’ 2023 Curragh Saturday preview is below.
1.45 – Coolmore Irish EBF Maiden (2yo)
Thankfully, the Curragh managed to dodge the worst of last night’s weather. The ground isn’t too bad at all, officially described as good to yielding, yielding in places. Usually, I’d leave these maidens alone but there’s a couple of interesting newcomers in here.
Queen Of Thunder is most certainly one of them but she’s now too short for the blog at around 9/1. Ken Condon’s daughter of Night Of Thunder cost a pretty penny at the sales and she is entered up in a couple of G1s later this season. She is bred to be smart, it’ll be interesting to see how she goes.
Solid Record
At much bigger odds, I also like the look of Mindful Applause for Jack Davison. Luke McAteer rides and he has a decent record when riding for the yard. He is 2/29 with 7 top 4s overall but on Davison’s juveniles he is 1/4 with a 2nd and a 3rd.
This filly was a 70k purchase and she is by a top sire in Acclamation. Her full sister, Karaoke, was beat a neck on her debut for Joseph O’Brien at Gowran last season (7f gd). She went on to break her maiden in a 2yo heat at Dundalk and earn a rating of 86.
There hasn’t been a penny for this filly in the market but that doesn’t put me off. Davison is not averse to having big priced winners and while he has yet to win a 2yo race at HQ, 8 of his 30 juvenile Curragh runners have finished in the first four.
With no form to go on these type of races are always a bit of a guessing game but there are enough positive signs to warrant a small e/w interest on Mindful Applause at odds of 66/1.
2023 Curragh Saturday Tip: Mindful Applause e/w @ 66/1
3.27 – Irish EBF Futurity Stakes (Group 2)
Nothing was leaping off the page in the preceding fillies’ handicap so we’ll leave it alone. Unfortunately, this isn’t exactly an attractive betting heat either. Just five have been declared, not ideal for each way players like ourselves.
I’d love to be able to make a case for Adrian Murray’s Courageous Strike at 100/1 but the only possible angle I can see is that the better ground today might elicit some improvement. He ran a blinder on debut at Roscommon on good to yielding but that form hasn’t really worked out.
Henry Longfellow is odds on after his impressive debut win over C&D (sft). By Dubawi and out of Minding, he is bred in the purple and Ryan Moore prefers him to Portland. That horse is rated 97 after landing a Galway nursery last time out and he sets a decent standard to aim at.
Vinny Gaul’s Spanish Flame is another promising sort who could go well and Islandsinthestream is by a top notch sire in Wootton Bassett. This is most certainly a race worth watching but it isn’t a betting race for me. No bet.
2023 Curragh Saturday Tip: No Bet
4.00 – Debutante Stakes (Group 2)
At least we have eight runners in our second G2 of the day. Pearls And Rubies has been pretty well backed and she is the 7/4 fav. Should she be shorter than the unbeaten Snellen who beat her at Ascot? I don’t think so.
Gavin Cromwell’s daughter of Expert Eye had a head to spare in the Chesham (7f gd/fm) and she should be able to uphold the form. The only worry is that she is unraced on softer than good to firm but the ground shouldn’t be that bad at the Curragh and of the horses at the head of the market, she definitely represents the best value at 6/1.
Of the outsiders, Kalispera could surprise with a big run at massive odds. Trained by Baby Joseph, The Enforcer Declan McDonogh rides and this daughter of Ten Sovereigns improved markedly from her first run to her second. Ok, she didn’t win either of those maidens at Leopardstown on debut (8f sft) or at Galway (7f sft) last time but she did show she is a horse with ability.
G1 Entries
She was only 3l behind Purple Lily at Galway and she is 8/1 for the G1 Fillies Mile at Newmarket. Glor Tire is a solid mid 80s horse and she was nearly 2L in front of her at Galway. It isn’t as strong as the form showed by the market leaders but it is still pretty solid. O’Brien also has her entered in the G1 Moyglare and Fillies’ Mile so he must think a bit of her.
On pedigree, she may well improve again for this better ground. Her half-sister Emphatic Answer was beat a neck in a G2 here on good to yielding last year and she has another half sister who was a close 3rd in a 7f G3 at Leopardstown on good ground. If this ground brings about another chunk of improvement, she might just sneak some black type so at odds of 50/1, she is the e/w selection.
2023 Curragh Saturday Tip: Kalispera e/w @ 50/1 NB
5.10 – Holden Plant Handicap (0-80)
The interesting one here at big odds is Mads Black Eights for Matty Smith and Declan McDonogh. By Zoffany, this mare is out of a dam who had some good form at this track. She is not as talented as her but she has returned from a break with two decent efforts at Down Royal (10.5f gd) and then on Thursday night at Leopardstown (9f gd).
At Down Royal she was still travelling strongly half a mile from home and her jockey switched wide. Then, 3f out he switched to the inside and his mount ran on pretty nicely to finish 5th, beat 6L for the win but only 3.75l behind Hutton Glen in 3rd. At Leopardstown she was drawn 17 and while she only finished 10th, she ran on very well from the back in the closing stages under tender handling.
That was only two days ago but she didn’t have a hard race and she looked like she was in good form. She ran in a course handicap over a mile last season and she was doing all her best work at the finish. At the line she was only 5L behind the winner and it looked like this sort of trip on this track would really suit her. She has been placed off 69 on the flat so we know she is capable of being competitive off her current mark of 67, at odds of 28/1 she is worth backing e/w.
