2023 Curragh Phoenix Stakes Meeting Tips – DS
2023 Curragh Phoenix Stakes Meeting
On a very busy day of racing action, in the UK we have the Shergar Cup at Ascot. Check out our preview for that here. In Ireland, we have the 2023 Curragh Phoenix Stakes meeting and it is a cracking card with a mix of stakes and handicap action. Dave Stevos has a couple of big priced e/w fancies, check out who he is backing below.
3.25 – Phoenix Sprint Stakes (Group 3)
I had planned to put up Jack Davison’s horse in the 1.40. Artful Approach was a big eyecatcher on debut and he was 25/1 last night. Alas, he has been very well backed overnight and the value has gone. So, we’ll start instead with this G3 sprint for the older horses. Our old pal Commanche Falls is the 2/1 favourite to add to his C&D Listed win last month. His days of being a 25/1 shot are long gone now but he does look the most likely winner.
Nice Ground
Only 2mm of rain fell last night so it should be pretty nice ground at the Curragh this afternoon. Moss Tucker would probably prefer it softer but he should run his usual solid race at a track he likes. Another horse who likes the Curragh is Ano Syra. James Feane’s 4yo has already placed in G3 and G2 company at this course and he looks a shade overpriced at 25/1.
Dylan Browne McMonagle’s mount was last sighted finishing down the field over 5f here on soft behind Art Power. However, on his last start here on good over 6f, he ran well to finish third behind the same horse. Last year he got to within 1.25L of Go Bears Go here (6f gd). His overall course form figures on ground with good in the description read 123 and he has also won here on yielding. The fav will be hard to beat but Ano Syra is capable of nicking a place so at 25/1, back him e/w.
2023 Curragh Phoenix Stakes Meeting: Ano Syra e/w @ 25/1 nb
4.00 – Revamp Handicap (95=10st)
My initial selection for this race last night was Zabeir at 22/1. Unfortunately the bird has flown and he has halved in price. The value has gone but he is a very nice horse who ran crackers on his last two Curragh visits. My alternative pick for this race has to be Inchturk.
We backed Mick Halford & Tracey Collins’ horse when he was a non-runner here earlier this season. He came out two weeks later and ran a lovely race down in Killarney, finishing 4th off 80 (8f yld). Connections were expecting a big run at Galway last time out but things didn’t really go Inchturk’s way.
The assessor has dropped Inchturk to a mark of 78 on the back of that Galway run. It is a career low rating and on the form of his Gowran maiden win, he should be capable of being competitive off it. He was already competitive off 80 two runs ago and I am willing to forgive him his below par run at Galway. Hopefully Inchturk can bounce back to form today, at 25/1 it is worth chancing that he does.
2023 Curragh Phoenix Stakes Meeting: Inchturk e/w @ 25/1 (5 places)
4.40 – Keeneland Phoenix Stakes (Group 1)
Not a race I’ll be getting involved in. I hope and I think that Bucanero Fuerte will give Adrian Murray his first ever Group 1 win. That is not a sentence I ever expected to type to be honest! The bookies look to have this race priced up about right so we’ll leave it alone. Fingers crossed for some Murray Magic though.
2023 Curragh Phoenix Stakes Meeting: No Bet
5.10 – Quinnbet Handicap (80=10st)
Joseph Murray has a decent record with horses at this track and Furnace Creek could run well for him here today. By Divine Prophet, this 4yo has won two of his ten turf starts. He won a maiden at Cork in May 2022 (6f gd) and then he added a rated race at Limerick (6.5f yld) a couple of months ago.
Furnace Creek races off a mark of 79 today, a 2lb lower mark than when 5th of 18 here (7f gd) six weeks ago. He was 4.75L behind the winner Verhoyen but he was only 2L behind Zabeir in third and I have a feeling he might have franked that form earlier on today.
As I mentioned earlier, Murray has a good track record at the Curragh. 3 winners from 32 runners with another 7 top 4 finishes. With Jack Kearney’s valuable 7lb claim Furnace Creek is effectively 9lbs lower than he was when 5th here behind Verhoyen and this shorter trip should suit him better. At odds of 20/1, Furnace Creek is worth backing each way.
