Forever Together The Focus At The Curragh

[Wandering Eyes]

Sunday’s action at The Curragh centres around the G1 Juddmonte Pretty Polly S., with a poor turnout in opposition to a Ballydoyle trio headed by the June 1 G1 Epsom Oaks heroine Forever Together (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Facing quicker conditions than when inflicting a 4 1/2-length defeat on Wild Illusion (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) there, she links up again with the third-placed Bye Bye Baby (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). The stable’s Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Flattering (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) have since boosted the form when winning the G2 Ribblesdale S. and G3 Munster Oaks respectively and it will be a surprise if the winner comes from outside that pairing. “Everything has gone well and according to plan with Forever Together since Epsom and we are looking forward to letting her run,” Aidan O’Brien said. “She’s in good form. Obviously it’s a drop down in trip and it’s better ground, but we’ve been happy with her since the Oaks. Bye Bye Baby is in good form as well. She’s a course and distance winner and we’ve been happy with her since Epsom.”

Elsewhere on the card, the stable’s Giuseppe Garibaldi (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is the latest to come back quick after a Royal Ascot visit in the G2 Comer Group International Curragh Cup and his improved effort when third in the G2 King Edward VII S. gives him leading claims even though Ryan Moore has opted for the colt who beat him in last year’s G3 Eyrefield S., Flag of Honour (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). The G3 Grangecon Stud S. features the G2 Queen Mary S. fourth and ‘TDN Rising Star‘ So Perfect (Scat Daddy) and the impressive June 18 Naas maiden winner Lethal Promise (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}).

The G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud is a fascinating clash between the Andre Fabre-trained pair, the G2 Grand Prix de Chantilly winner Waldgeist (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) and last year’s G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe runner-up Cloth of Stars (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}), and the talented fillies Bateel (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Coronet (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). The latter, a TDN Rising Star, comes into this on the back of a smooth winning reintroduction in the G2 Middleton S. at York May 17 and Denford Stud’s farm manager Richard Evans said, “We’re more hopeful than confident, but we’ll see how she goes. It was decided to take her to France rather than run in the Pretty Polly in Ireland on Sunday. I think the main reason was the ground looks like it might be rattling quick at the Curragh and it was actually soft at Saint-Cloud earlier in the week. We kept her in training because she’s by Dubawi and the family tend to improve with age. I saw her at York and I definitely thought she looked stronger than she did last season. She made a nice comeback at York and the aim for the year now is to try and sneak a group one somewhere along the line.”

Waldgeist’s half-sister Waldlied (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) bids to atone for an unlucky run when second in Chantilly’s G3 Prix de Royaumont last time June 3 in the G2 Prix de Malleret. With two of Germany’s leading middle-distance performers Iquitos (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}) and Guignol (Ger) (Cape Cross {Ire}) on duty in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, the G2 Grosser Hansa-Preis at Hamburg is open for last year’s G1 Deutsches Derby hero and G1 Coronation Cup third Windstoss (Ger) (Shirocco {Ger}) to showcase his talents, but first he has to subdue the 2017 G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin and G2 Prix Foy scorer Dschingis Secret (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}).

 

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