The Curragh Back With a Bang

[Wandering Eyes]

All eyes are on the re-opening of The Curragh on Monday after its lengthy redevelopment, with Ballydoyle’s star filly Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) gracing the Kildare venue with her presence in the G2 Coolmore Highland Reel Irish EBF Mooresbridge S. Joined by the two colts Flag of Honour (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Latrobe (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) that she readily upstaged in the G3 Alleged S. at Naas Apr. 13, there is nothing obvious to suggest this will not be a victory lap as she prepares for this track’s G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup and Royal Ascot’s G1 Prince of Wales’ S.

The card begins with a six-furlong juvenile maiden in which Ballydoyle look to continue their perfect sequence with the colts and Ryan Moore is partnering Harpocrates (Ire) by the 2000 Guineas-winning sire Invincible Spirit (Ire). Rosegreen also put forward the Apr. 17 Dundalk debut scorer King Neptune (War Front) in the Listed First Flier S. over five and the recent Chelmsford conditions second and fourth Antilles (War Front) and U S S Michigan (War Front) in the Listed Coolmore Churchill Irish EBF Tetrarch S. over seven.

Michael O’Callaghan runs his up-and-coming dual handicap scorer I Am Superman (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) and he said of him, “He’s thriving on his racing, so I think he’ll improve again. He has got an entry in the Irish Guineas, because we always thought a bit of him, but that is still a long way away.”

Potential Irish 1000 Guineas clues are on offer in the card’s G3 Coolmore Gleneagles Irish EBF Athasi S. over seven furlongs, where four 3-year-old fillies meet their elders. They include Ballydoyle’s Apr. 6 G3 Ballylinch Stud 1000 Guineas Trial runner-up Happen (War Front), a daughter of the stable’s dual Oaks heroine Alexandrova (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells), and Moyglare Stud’s Apr. 3 Leopardstown maiden winner Titanium Sky (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}).

With the G1 Prix du Jockey Club just under four weeks away, its host Chantilly stages one of the vital trials in the nine-furlong G3 Prix de Guiche. His Highness The Aga Khan’s exciting Makmour (Fr) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}), who caught the eye when second to Starmaniac (GB) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) in a 10 1/2-furlong conditions event at Saint-Cloud last time Mar. 30, meets an Andre Fabre-trained pair in Godolphin’s G3 Prix Noailles runner-up Syrtis (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and the Wertheimers’ Mar. 12 course-and-distance scorer Flop Shot (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}). The fixture’s Listed Prix des Lilas over a mile sees the return of Khalid Abdullah’s soft-ground Saint-Cloud winner Obligate (GB) (Frankel {GB}), a Pascal Bary-trained granddaughter of Hasili (Ire) (Kahyasi {Ire}), and Ecurie des Charmes and the Foriens’ impressive Angers winner Mythic (Fr) (Camelot {GB}).

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